One Last Goodnight
by Hari-Aisu
Summary: Raito has always burrowed himself within his books of fantasy, wishing to escape the reality caging him. One chance encounter with fate is all it takes for Raito to realize that the world around him may hold more than just what he imagines there to be...
1. Under the Night Sky So Bright

A.N: If you think I'm really crazy, clap your hands- *clap, clap* If you really wanna maim me, clap your hands- *clap, clap* If you think I'm really crazy for starting a new story, if you think I need a good bashing, clap your hands- *clap, clap*

But all that aside. XD I promised myself I would never fall into this trap of a story; I DEMANDED it of myself, damn it. And yet I failed. T.T Woe is me. Lol. Cookies if you can guess what kind of story this is going to be! *Waves cookies* Though one automatically goes to Kit-chan, so maybe I should just say cookie. Oh well. ^.^ Let's see what kind of response this story gets, and whether or not it get's dibbs on first priority after finals are over and done with...

Many thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing by the way! Woot!

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Prologue: _Under the Night Sky So Bright_

* * *

"_Sachiko…"_

"_Yes, dear?" _

"_Is he alright?" _

"_Of course he is, darling. Look… perfectly intact." _

"_Good, good…" _

"_You make it sound as if he were so fragile."_

"_But isn't he?" _

"_Oh, Soichirou… he's only as fragile as you make him believe he is." _

"_Aren't you all philosophical now. But don't mind me… I find it very cute, in fact."_

"_Well… as long as we're careful, he'll be fine… And really, koi, I can't help it if my mother and father wish to see him from time to time as well. They see it as their right, and I can't begrudge them that. They've been so good to us so far…"_

"_I… I understand… it's just…"_

"_Soichirou…" _

"_He can never know, you know. It's only a matter of time before we have to keep them __**all**__ away from him, and you know that will only anger them all the more. I just don't want them to get too… attached." _

"… … … _I know." _

"_I'm sorry." _

"_No, Soichirou…" _

_Dark brown eyes glanced up at the man barely a hair's breath away from the young-looking woman's face as she cradled the baby within her arms, pale skin glistening underneath the vanquishing sunset as dark purple skies overtook the dusky oranges and roaring red watercolors splayed across the dying horizon. _

_The baby within the woman's arms cooed, their warm amber eyes sparkling fervently as the young mother dug deeper within her secret husband's embrace, her own eyes glistening with unshed tears. _

"_Not like I am." _

* * *

Tanned hands firmly gripped the aging book within their grasp as light chocolate-colored eyes scanned the words implanted onto the yellowed pages letter to letter, his mind soaking in the information on the sheets of paper like a sponge; quick and efficient in all of its accuracy and understanding.

Not paying any heed to the people around him, the words of Paul Féval enticed the 17-year-old further into the gothic land of make-believe the old author had created in a spin of folklore and bursts of imagination, the dark imagery and confusing maze of mystery spinning the boy's head around in circle after circle after circle...

"Raito?!"

The boy felt his eye twitch in agitation.

'Damn it… just one more freaking paragraph…'

"Raito!"

Raito sighed as he twisted the thick volume of literature within his calloused hands before taking a deep breath and shelving the book, promptly titled "Knightshade," back into the large expanse of space in front of him. Glancing over at his father waving over at him, still clad in his business suit and round-rimmed spectacles, he had to wonder just what it was that was _so_ important that his father had to interrupt his necessary 'Raito-by-himself' time when it was most necessary.

"RAITO! TURN AROUND! YOUR FATHER IS HERE TO TALK TO YOU! I'M AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE WAITING FOR YOU WHEN YOU'RE REEEEAAADDDYYY!"

Raito felt his fist clench in agitation.

'And people wonder why I hate my life.'

The little amount of people cluttered around the brunette discreetly turned over to stare at him as he rolled his eyes, his youthful expression of annoyance not bothering his father in the slightest as he continued to excitedly beckon him over to the entrance of the grand library.

The little burrows of aisles coved within each section of the library was not enough to hide Raito as his father then began to fully enter the large foyer. the librarian's desk was filled to the brim with extra books which hid a rather doughty-looking old man whom always greeted everyone with a warm smile, his dark eyes and graying hair lightening up his wrinkled face and lips, framed by a large mustache as silver as the hair on the top of his head.

He nodded over at Raito's father, making the boy sweat drop as he was pulled away from the bookcase which still called his name, the semi-thick book he'd been wishing to read in particular now no longer calling his attention as his father continued to make a complete ass out of himself.

Many of the girls, excluding the rather shy ones deliberately moving away from his proud stride, giggled as they murmured excitedly to themselves, the teen's brilliant smile cockily hanging from his lips as he attempted to smother the self-satisfied euphoria at being praised, even if silently, once again.

"Raito!" The girl's giggles escaladed as Raito let the smirk slowly slip from his face, wondering if there was some sort of law about father's embarrassing their son's in public, or not…

"Yes, father?" The brunette brushed some stray locks away from his tanned forehead as he glared heavily at his still grinning father, eyes burning a faint crimson from irritation.

"Get that look off your face and come with me, young man! You are never going to believe this!" Grabbing his hand, the older of the two began to pull the young man out of the library as Raito gasped in shock, barely getting a chance to wave goodbye to the librarian who was almost like a mentor to him as his father continued to pull him out the large see-through heavyset doors.

"See ya later, Watari!"

"Goodbye, Yagami-kun!" Watari chirped as he continued to rummage through some paper work, the slightly open door behind him creaking all the more as Raito finally stumbled out of the building.

"You are never going to meet with him if you continue to hide behind closed doors as you have continued to do these past five years, Ryuuzaki." Watari whispered, not having to turn around to see the familiar dark eyes ringed with black and pale gaunt face haloed by a shag of dark scraggly hair to know it was there, still watching the now rapidly disappearing figure of the boy whom came to visit the library almost every single day of the week at just about the same exact time. "He is such a nice boy, as well. It would really do you well to become friends with him… especially with your small… _affliction_."

"… … Perhaps." The younger of the two simply stated, still keeping his gaze directly at the closed set of glass doors as the retreating figure of a familiar brunette completely dissipated from his rather desolate view, a small sigh echoing softly to himself before the dark shroud of a decrepit room was all that was seen once more.

Watari only rolled his eyes, glasses slipping off of the bridge of his nose as he shook his head in exasperation, once again thumbing through the large amount of paperwork that never seemed to dissipate.

"_Teenagers_."

* * *


	2. Falling Right Side Up

A.N: Wow... my concentration is shot right now. Lol. This is what happens when you try to upload a chapter and watch "Step-Brothers" at the same time. "Boat's and Ho's", y'all! XD I think I just snorted. I am such a dork. ^.^ Though now I've moved onto "Bangkok Dangerous", so that shows you just how random my movie viewing is. Lol. Sorry for the long wait, by the way. I've had a lot to do around here (and not much time or inspiration to spare, really... -.-;), so hopefully next chapter doesn't take as long to write. Hopefully. ((Sweat drop))

A lot of you guessed correctly in your reviews, and a lot of others not so much. I guess I'll just have to wait until the plot of the story becomes just a _bit_ more obvious until the 'secret' (Double snort) is revealed. I'm such a tease. XD

Many thank-you's and random one-liners (which are oh-so-hilarious, of course) to Kitsune55 for beta-ing (and the add-in's, as well!) this chapter for me by the way! She gets a gold star! (Shiny...)

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention last chapter (_silly, silly me, really_), but I don't own Death Note... biatch.

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter One: _Falling Right Side Up_

* * *

"Dad, c'mon!"

Raito nearly tumbled over his head as his father skid to a stop, standing in front of him so that his vision was virtually obscured. Large brown eyes hiding behind clear glass mirrors shone brilliantly against the dying afternoon light bursting in a myriad of watercolors as the grin on his father's face made the teen take a step back in fear.

"Close your eyes, Raito." Soichirou grinned as he began tugging on his son's hand once more, eyes widening even further in unprecedented excitement. The 17-year-old almost pinched the man bouncing up in down in front of him, finding the emotion so overwhelming in the usually reserved and tight-lipped person that had raised Raito from birth.

"Are you… ok, dad?" Raito blinked as Soichirou rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I mean, you haven't killed someone in some ravenous rage and expect me to help you dig a place for the body, right? Cause I just cleaned my nails, and I totally don't do shovels-"

"Raito, are you going to close your eyes or not?!"

Raito quirked up an eyebrow as both cinnamon-brown orbs continued to stay open.

"Fine then… But feast your eyes, my wonderful and only son… on _this_." With that, Soichirou gave one final tug asRaito once again almost tripped over his own two feet as his father clumsily pulled him forward, only to unveil-

"… … Oh… my…"

A brand new red convertible… with a large red bow on the hood.

Along with a giant card on top that said "Soichirou's brand new Pimp-Mobile".

"Huh… is this some kind of mid-life crisis I should know about?" Raito asked caustically as his father glared over at him, glasses giving off a glare from the angle of light coming off the lowering sun. "Does this mean I'm going to have to give you some 'cool' new nickname like 'Slim Jim' or 'Slick Rick' and hope to God you don't embarrass me at school? Because I'm not cool with that. Not one bit."

"NO!" Soichirou smacked his son over his head, making the boy finally fall head first into the ground, glaring up at his eye-twitching parent. "This… was a present."

"… … Do I want to ask what you did to _get_ said present?"

"Raito," Soichirou nearly kicked his son over the head as the brunette brushed himself off, wondering just what the hell had gotten into his father and if it was contagious. "Are you going to let me speak, or are you going to continue in your pursuit of making me want to flip you over your own head with my awesome military skills."

"… … Should I just stop with the smart ass comments?"

"_Yes._"

"Fine." Raito smiled as politely as he could (which wasn't all that much since he was still cranky from before), inwardly smirking in delight as his father's eye began to twitch even more readily than before. "Who gave you such a magnificent, and might I add, pimp-ish present, dad?"

"Isn't it, though?"

"Dad. Just answer the stupid question."

"Well… Do you remember how I was telling you that I was up for promotion during my company's newest intake in clientele?"

"Yeah, you were working night and day on those damn projects, so they better have paid… attention… wait." Raito's eyes almost fell out of their sockets as he turned and grabbed his father's arm, the smile on his face softening in response. "You don't mean-"

"You," Soichirou puffed out his proverbial feathers as he sniffed in pride. "Are looking at the new Accounting Director of the greatest Finance Department of all time, my dearest and most precious of sons."

"You do realize I'm your only son, right?" The brunette rolled his burnt amber eyes as Soichirou clipped him over the head again, laughingly watching in amazement as his son ducked in barely a second's time.

"Raito, are you going to cherish this moment with me or not?"

"That depends," Raito laughed as well as his father attempted to ruffle his hair endearingly, willing to take the treatment for the time being. "Am I going to be able to take a spin in our new 'Pimp-Mobile'?"

"Raito! Only I am allowed to drive in the Pimp-Mobile!" At his son's cute (if clearly fake) pout, Soichirou placed an index finger on his chin as he paused in faux-thought. "However… I suppose riding shotgun would be acceptable, if your supposed 'coolness' allows it of course."

"… … Uh…"

Soichirou glowered at the boy as he sweat dropped, clearly not wanting to get into the car with him.

"Raito."

"Yeah dad?"

"Just shut up and get in the damn Pimp-Mobile."

"Of course daddy-dearest."

* * *

For anyone else, nights were just a passing daze.

Not many people enjoyed the tranquility the night had to offer, or the lasting oblivion the darkness and moon-lit sky exuded as the afternoon rays of light died off only to leave the beginning strays of twilight.

Raito refused to remain oblivious to such beauty when presented to him.

Smiling to himself, the teen turned off his light as he opened the curtains of his window and drenched himself within the beautiful sparkles of blistering stars and large radiant moon which to this day had yet to fail him with its projected light. Grabbing his book, the boy sat by the windowsill and cracked open the aging leather-bound journal and began to read the words as they were, delighting in each passing moment.

* * *

_**My dearest and most beautiful burst of sunshine,**_

_**Today was a wonderful day indeed. **_

_**Your father finally figured out just how to use the invention we like to call the 'Stove' (Really, the man has no cooking skills whatsoever. (NEVER. ACTUALLY. LET. HIM. NEAR. A. STOVE! IT IS BOTH POTENTIALLY HARMFUL TO BOTH YOURSELF AND YOUR FATHER, RAITO! PLEASE!) Of course, all he did was boil water, but that's a… step in the right direction? **_

_**Let's just say it is and leave it at that. **_

_**You actually said your first word today! Well… it sounded more like 'moopie' instead of 'cookie', but that's not the point! You pointed at a cookie and said it, and I UNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU MEANT! So you said your first word, darn it. And stop laughing at me. I know I'm silly. And psychic. And gorgeous. The full package, really. **_

_**But I digress. **_

_**Just preparing you for what your genes have in store for you, my dear. **_

_**Your father completely disagrees with me, though. Says that it doesn't count if you don't say it correctly. What the heck does he know, anyway? Man can't even work a stove without burning a house down. You said it. End of story. **_

_**I figure he calmed himself by boiling the water and giving himself a cheer of encouragement after I told him off and made you call him a moopie just for yukes. I'm pretty sure you gave him the same look I was giving him after doing so, but I can't be too sure. Funny either way. **_

_**But that's not the point. The point is, we had another great day, just you and I… and quite possibly your father with his boiling water. How many more of these we'll have, I don't know. Yet I try not to count the minutes and days too carefully. I'm just happy for every moment we have together, my little ray of light. Right now, you're sleeping in your cradle looking as peaceful as ever, though it warms my heart to think of you much older than now, reading my words with something I hope akin to affection. **_

_**Who knows how long we'll have left with these passing days of sunshine, Raito, but cherish them. Cherish them, and hold them close always. **_

_**As long as you do that, I can promise you this; I won't waste a single minute of our time spent together as well. **_

_**But alas, this shall be another sweet goodnight to add to the rest I have already given to you, as I hear your father grumbling about something or another in an attempt to wake you up so that he can play (bother, really) with you. Sometimes, I wonder about your dear daddy and his immaturity issues. Watch out for him, ok? Ok. At least we see eye-to-eye, baby-dear. **_

_**Now, where was I? Oh yes… Sleep well, my darling, and have many lovely dreams my lovely flower of the night.**_

_**Until tomorrow… I love you, both now and always. Never forget that, above all else. **_

_**Goodnight.**_

* * *

Raito smiled as he marked the page and closed the journal, the warm midnight air cloaking him with its blanket of saccharine smells and dulcet melodies of the night. Reading his mother's words before each slumber always helped him sleep a bit easier, feeling her presence a bit more than if not having anything to remember her at all.

Tomorrow would be another day filled with text-books he had long since memorized and recite along with aging books filled to the brim with fantastical adventures bordering on ludicrous, but right at this moment in the dead of night, all he needed was a reminder of what he had once had.

A time where he had had something worth living for, even if sporadically.

A _real _family.

Hearing the echoing sounds of his father's footsteps outside his door, Raito opened his night table and pushed the dark leather-bound notebook inside the small drawer and stood up, the warmth inside his chest burning with renewed energy.

His mother would always be near and dear to his heart…

Whether he could actually remember her or not.

Pushing back the covers on his bed, Raito did not notice the dark figure on the sidewalk across from his house, standing underneath the street lamp waiting for the day they could finally be seen.

Cinnamon-brown eyes framed by dark bangs became blurred over with tears as they continued to stare into the same window, hoping with every ounce of still rushing blood running throughout their body that _maybe, _that day would be so very soon.

Similarly colored eyes closed as the teen snuggled within the bed's sheets, both only thinking one thing…

'_Tomorrow is another day, after all…'

* * *

_

"Raito!"

The young teenage drama-king nearly slid over his own two feet and the concrete steps leading down the grassy path towards the street he was aiming for as his father chased him out of the door, paper bag in one hand whilst a cup of coffee was held in the other.

"You nearly forgot your lunch again!" Soichirou smiled as Raito literally snatched it out of his hands and gave him a quick wave before getting ready to turn around once again.

"ThanksDad,gottagoorelseI'llbelate,loveyou,bye!" The slur came out in a whirlwind of speech as Raito spun back around, his feet two steps ahead of his brain.

"You know you don't have to run, son?!" Raito's father smirked as the cringe could be seen all the way from where he was standing. "I could give you a ride in my Pimp-Mo-"

"NO! GOTTA GO! BYE!"

Watching his son speedily disappear from sight, the bespectacled father scratched the back of his head in confusion as Raito broke another world record in the great sport Soichirou liked to call 'The School Bus Dash'.

"Really…" Soichirou closed the door as he rolled his eyes. "Boy's just too much like his mother…"

* * *

"I can make it, I can make it, I can make it, I can make it-!"

Without meaning to, Raito turned his eyes to the sky just as he felt a dark shadow loom over his broad shoulder. Dark gray clouds began to rumble above him, completely overcoming the soft sky blue that had been floating above his head. Inadvertently feeling his long trim legs slow in speed, Raito blinked in wonderment just a blur of yellow sped past him in burst of speed that even put his own track to shame.

"SHIT!" The brunette student shouted before a torrent of rain seemed to fall out of the sky in bucket-loads, the weather apparently paying no heed to the weatherman whom had promised _clear-freaking-skies_ and lots and lots of _oh-so-wonderful sunshine_!

Flicking pale brown bangs out of his now blurred vision, Raito chanced a glance over his shoulder.

'Come in late, or be embarrassed by father… come in late, or be embarrassed by father…'

What _wonderful_ choices.

* * *

"You're late, Yagami-kun."

Raito sighed as he walked into the classroom, soaked to the bone. His teacher, a doughty older woman barely in her mid-forties quirked up an eyebrow at his slightly disheveled state, watching as water continued to pour down his lithe frame in rivulets as the young girls in his classroom giggled in glee.

Really…

Raito could already tell today was going to be a very, _very_, bad day.

"Sorry, sensei." The boy monotonously replied, bowing a bit before trudging over to his desk in the back. Hefting up his slightly soggy back-pack, Raito just thanked whatever deity there was to thank that his homework was still intact and his books not all that damaged.

There was really only so much Raito could take in one day, after all.

"Be prepared for an hour's detention after school, Yagami-kun." The teacher snapped as the bedraggled student sat down, wincing at the woman's stern tone and equally stoic demeanor "Now, can anyone tell me the answer to the first question on the board? Don't speak up all at once, everyone…"

A soft sigh escaped his lips as the bleary-eyed teen pulled out his materials and sat them down on his desk, wondering if an education was even worth the pain he could already feel reverberating from his ass.

'Just think positive thoughts… positive thoughts…'

Raito looked down at his soggy notebook and squishy text-book as he sighed to himself once more.

'I hate my life.'

* * *

"Hey, Yagami-kun!"

Some nameless boy Raito didn't know (or cared to know, for that matter) waved over to him as a soccer ball rolled over towards his feet, bouncing harmlessly off his sneakers in a series of patters.

"Kick it over here!" The kid (Sai? Did it really matter?) waved once more, motioning towards his friends and the extremely muddy soccer field.

Figures the sun would come out now that school was _over_.

Some of the other students were still dressed in their uniforms, if only partially, whilst others were stripped of such clothing completely, preferring the freedom of simple gym shorts and tee-shirts. For some strange reason, each of them were staring at him, waiting for _him_ to kick the stupid ball instead of going over and getting it themselves.

For some strange reason, it just made Raito so _angry_.

The picture of normalcy cut deeply within the usually reserved student as the other teenagers began to give him odd glances, wondering why he wasn't moving, why he seemed to be just staring at them as if _they_ were the abnormal ones, why he wasn't even attempting to give them back the ball when they'd asked so _politely_.

It really just made the brunette's icy-exterior freeze all the more as his glare narrowed even further, a cold rage he seemed to always be suppressing catching him in its arctic grip once more.

He could never be a part of a scene like this, and he had to wonder _why_? What was it about him that separated him so drastically from the rest? Visually they looked the same. They all sounded the same. Hell, Raito was probably even sure that they all _smelled _the same (unless they didn't shower, in which case, _ew_) too. Yet…

There was something _there _he just _could not explain_.

Staring down at the soccer ball for a split second more, Raito shook his head as he turned on his heel and walked away, ignoring the groans and yells of discouragement from the other students as they ran over to the still ball sitting quietly on the slightly bumpy concrete sidewalk. As Raito walked along the same sidewalk, which led the way to one of the brunette's favorite sanctuaries, the boy only hoped that maybe just maybe today he would not be disturbed or disrupted once again.

* * *

'Finally…'

The smell of musky books and familiarity awoke a sense of comfort within Raito as he opened the pair of heavy clear-paned double doors, the library's gateway once again putting him back into his comfortable zone once more.

'Home, sweet home.'

"Yagami-kun!"

Turning to his right, Raito smiled brightly as the aging librarian whom seemed permanently attached to the desk set in front of him waved over towards him, the ominous door behind him shut like always with a small bright pink 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging cutely on the top of the doorway.

Footsteps gliding in the other man's direction, the feisty brunette let his smile gradually become all the more warm and genuine as Watari let his hand slowly fall to the desk, his own still in his place as well.

"How are we doing today, Yagami-kun?" Watari whispered as he leaned forward, his arms now crossing themselves in front of his desk in a show of companionship as Raito re-shouldered his book-bag. "Another good day of school, of course?"

"I wish." Raito rolled his eyes as he walked around the small counter and grabbed another chair sitting on the far right corner of the grand hall and pushing it beside the older man's own seat. Dropping the heavy load off of his shoulders and onto the ground beside him, Raito grabbed a pen and shuffled some of the papers littering the librarian's desk in a show of routine that outshined just how well both man and boy knew each other. "Just another day of the same old thing, Watari. And really, how many times have I asked you to just call me 'Raito'? Say it with me, Ra…i… to… See? So easy!"

Laughing in amusement at the younger boy's grievance, Watari simply shook his head as the door behind him slowly opened a bit seemingly on its own accord without Raito actually noticing. "I apologize, _Raito_-kun. Though after years of the same golden routine, I suppose it is a rather difficult habit to break. Who would have thought that I've known you for more than half your life with the way you speak to me?"

"Yeah… but you realize that the fact that you've known me for so long is why I let it slide you know." Raito gave the old man a wink as Watari once again laughed jovially, always charmed by the pleasant, if sarcastic young man. "Jeez, is it just me, or do these stupid stacks of paperwork _grow in buckets _every time I leave and then come back?!"

"Ah, yes, I would somehow not doubt if that were true, my dear boy… All I can say is feel my pain, Raito-kun." Watari sighed as he re-adjusted his glasses, dark eyes narrowing in annoyance at the never-ending piles of useless information and resources along with files of files _about_ different files which _still needed _to be filed… "Feel my pain… However, if Raito-kun would prefer to make it to his normal section and fill his imaginative-criteria, I would not be the slightest bit offended."

"I couldn't do that to you, Watari." Raito grinned as he pulled out another pile of paperwork and shifted it to the side to be _filed_, damn it. "Besides, two heads and two pairs of hands are always better than one, yes?"

Watari tilted his head to the side as he patted the boy on the shoulder in a parental fashion as Raito felt his face burned a light cotton-candy pink, his cheeks now resembling two florescent-red light bulbs twinkling in the dark. "You are a good boy, Raito-kun. Most definitely a good boy…"

"What am I, a dog?!" Raito laughed as he picked up a pen and twirled it effortlessly with his fingers, eyes alight with amusement. "Let's just get to work, Watari."

Without Raito noticing, the door behind them gently creaked shut, a set of pale fingers gripping at the edges of the plying wood until the darkness was shut out once again, the echoing sound of smooth laughter tinkering in Watari's ears as the smile on his face, which was the only sign of his amusement, grew all the more.

"Of course, Raito…"

"Sarcastic, much?"

"Oh, we both know that this is the least of my potential sarcasm."

"Touché, Watari. Touché…"

* * *

"Raito?"

"Huh…" Raito felt himself blink wearily as a random piece of blank computer paper stuck to the side of his face, his head still cradled within his arms as Watari gazed down at him in merry amusement.

"It's closing time." The old man chuckled as Raito groaned in discomfort, eyes itching with water as he rubbed them in an attempt to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep from his mocha-brown orbs. "Do you want to pick a book quickly before we close? Considering you helped me with all of this before you became comatose, I think it is the least I can do."

"Oh, thanks, Watari!" The sleepy adolescent immediately perked up as the words 'pick' 'book' and 'close' entered his ears, jumping up with new found vitality. "Just give me five minutes!"

Watari sighed as the 17-year-old avid reader bounce off of his seat as if he _hadn't_ spent the last hour napping like a five-year-old and ran towards his normal reading section, the sound of the door quietly opening behind him barely making him blink in surprise.

"Will you be escorting young Raito home once again?"

"… … Is that a problem?"

"No." Watari smiled as he peeked over his shoulder, the familiar mop of dark locks and pale skin a stark contrast to the warm brown wood of the door the man was now leaning against, his thumb once again capture between his teeth in a look of faux-innocence. "I suppose I appreciate the concern of his safety… though I'm sure if you _spoke_ to him, he would feel very much inclined to-"

"You know why I can't do that, Watari." The man whispered as he smoothly glided out of the library, his pale white tee-shirt and ragged jeans hanging off his lithe frame in a bunched fashion. "I will be waiting outside. Simply signal when he is done, and I shall take it from there."

Watari sighed once again (this exhalation more out of frustration than amusement) as he waited for the other's unknowing charge, wondering just _when_ the other dark-haired vigilante would let go of the charade.

"Poor, poor Raito…"

* * *

Clutching the small book to his chest, Raito grinned over at the man standing at the doorway waving.

"Be careful, Raito! I wouldn't want my favorite reader to be on tomorrow's news!"

"I'm sure!"

Grinning at the lack of honorific attached to his name, (_'Finally!' the boy thought to himself_) a thin tanned hand made its way upward as the golden child waved back at the old man as he closed the door. Molten amber eyes softened as the hand slowly inched its way downward, the book still lying close to his chest wavering as the teen felt the cool night air crawl against his bare neck.

The dark sky shimmered down on the schoolboy as turned and made his way to the lit sidewalk, the stars dampening the milky obsidian of the night sky's mirage as Raito felt the nipping wind against the back of his neck fan out until it draped his entire body. The thin brown coat falling on top of his broad shoulders and flatteringly rolling down to his tapered waist barely concealed the brunette's feeble skin from the dropping temperatures as the shivers began to rack his body without abandon.

'I hate the cold, I hate the cold, I _hate_ the cold…'

Reaching the curb, Raito made the mistake of not looking both ways (_which would most __**certainly **__eat at him later on, on those days where he would ask __**just why he was cursed with this insane psycho!**_) as he stepped onto the bumpy cement-coated street, head once again in the clouds…

And away from the pair of headlights just barely meters away from him.

"LOOK OUT!"

All Raito heard was the sound of a car swerving and car-tires squealing in rough misuse. But, instead of the punishing force of the approaching vehicle, Raito instead felt someone slam into his back, arms tightly winding around the boy's waist as two lithe forms outlined by the shadows of the night propelled them both to the other side of the street, out of harm's way.

_Knowing_ that he had been just a few feet from danger, Raito turned his head up as his breath stilled within his throat. The book he had been holding now lying on the other side of the street lay in a disarray of damaged binding as crumpled pieces of now dirt-speckled paper fluttered in the breeze.

"Oh my…" Feeling his heart beat frantically within his chest, Raito clutched onto the person's pale (_and cold... why was it so cold_?) hand that held his own now that the arms had dropped from his waist as the other dirt-encased man brushed himself off with his other free appendage. "Thank you so much…"

A head full of raven-black locks shook as the rumpled-looking man sighed, his grip on the teen's hand tightening as the person within the car, the one that had _almost_ taken Raito away from him, stepped out of the vehicle looking as bewildered as the pastel-skinned man himself felt.

'_I am holding his hand… he is looking at me… I can smell him so close to me… I... I **want** to... I __**have**__ to leave __**now**__.' _

Yet before he could even take a step away from the still sitting figure lying on the empty street, a lean tanned hand pulled him forward, setting off a series of events neither would be able to explain later on.

And as Raito looked up into those pair of endless obsidian eyes, (_And as L looked down at those beautiful chocolate-brown orbs, he knew without a doubt-_) he was lost.

* * *


	3. Lost in Your Eyes

A.N: Yay, I'm back sooner than expected! XD You can all thank the quickness of my beta and inspiration for that, by the way. Lol. Nothing to really say this chapter except more hintage, some cool cameos and one seriously pissed off Rai-chan.

But that's an all the time thing, so I'm sure we'll be able to adjust. ^.^

Many thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing (and for awesome ideas! XD)

Now shoo! Go read!

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Two: _Lost in Your Eyes_

* * *

"Um…"

Raito felt the breath in his lungs slowly fade away as those dark pits of glossy ebony continued to stare down at him with such intensity that seemed to both frighten and fascinate him. Hand still nestled within the other man's grip, Raito slowly lifted himself up from the lumpy road beneath him and blinked slowly as if trying to capture the image of the other person's image within his mind.

Tousled dark bangs hung in front of those captivating eyes that had captured Raito's attention only minutes before as dark bags hung beneath the enchanting orbs leading the way to endless unblemished skin. He seemed to be hunched over, his shoulders leaning forward as if trying to achieve balance as the dull white shirt that hung off his almost skeletal-like frame drenched his lean figure leading down to now-dirty jeans equally as baggy as the shirt falling over the waist of them.

But those eyes were what really caught Raito's interest…

Why did they look so _familiar_?

"Thank you…" The breathless teen felt the other squeeze his hand almost reverently before releasing the lean appendage from its tight grip of steel and nodding silently. "If you hadn't have been there, I-"

"Oh my God, are you alright, kid?!" Raito nearly snarled as the driver ran over to them, the flushed pedestrian ready to have a panic-attack right on the spot. "I'm so sorry, you just came out of nowhere, and-"

"It's alright. It was my fault anyway." The student attempted to pacify the heaving driver with one of his phony yet 'oh-so-charming' smiles that always made the girls melt and the guys fidget in embarrassment. "I should have looked before crossing, really."

"St-still…" The driver once again stuttered before Raito waved him off with a fake laugh, giving the immensely quiet raven-haired stranger now nibbling on his thumb a sharp glance as he turned and grabbed his almost-torn book from the small pile of rubble it had landed upon. "Do you need to go the hospital, are you feeling any pain, do you want me to call your parents?!"

"I believe he has already told you that he is fine." A smooth baritone voice cut the driver's panicked ramble as dark brown eyes met obsidian black, a strange gleam entering the stranger's eyes. Raito blinked as his own gaze switched back and forth, feeling as if he were missing something in particular. "What would be best for both yourself and the boy is for you to get back into your car and _forget_ this ever happened… Understood?"

"Uh…" The driver blinked before turning about face and sleepily nodding. "Yeah…"

'What the hell…' The cute student took a couple steps forward before coming to an unintentional halt, a cold pale hand gripping his shoulder a bit painfully as the feel of cool skin was felt underneath the flimsy coat and thin shirt he wore underneath. Turning his head, Raito was once again met with that starburst gaze, the slight motion taking him off-kilter once again.

"Have a nice night, sir." Raito quietly let out as the man trudged back to his car, seemingly not having heard the teen's departing reply. Throwing himself within the car and turning on the ignition, the driver didn't even glance back as he disappeared within the night.

Raito cocked his head in confusion as he stared at the spot that had once contained the vehicle that had almost made him into a Raito-Pancake. "O… k…"

"_Are_ you alright?" The thin hand pulled back from the boy's shoulder as Raito fully turned to face his savior, the harsh autumn winds stinging his unprotected flushed cheeks in a hidden maelstrom of freezing temperatures to come. "I suppose that was a lot to take in all at once, and shock can prevent one from not feeling certain pains until later on…"

"Yeah…" Raito cursed his voice as it trembled uncertainly, shivering from more than just the cold. "I think I'll be ok."

Nodding, the other man made no move to step away from Raito, still staring at him with those pits of never-ending black. Brushing back locks of sepia away from his cherry-red face, Raito held the damaged book closely to his chest as he also stayed where he was.

"Will you be alright…" The strange man took a slumping step forward as the teen blinked in confusion once more. "Walking home all by yourself after all that?"

"Uh…"

For once in his life, Raito was at a loss of words.

Grabbing his hand with one smooth swipe, the hunched-over mystery man pulled Raito off the street and back onto the sidewalk, a small smirk barely noticeable on his lips. Still feeling more than a little flustered, the 17-year-old huffed before straightening himself out and attempting to keep up with the other man's admittedly long stride.

"Well?" Raito said impatiently, not in the mood for any formalities after the vestiges of such a sucky day. "You saved my life and are now apparently escorting me home without my actual consent… wouldn't it be proper for you to at least tell me your name?"

"What's yours?" The other man simply asked, disregarding the brunette's snappy tone and question in one fell swoop.

"Hey!" Raito blurted out, not used to having someone deliberately ignore him or his questions. "I asked first!"

"But I saved you before all else, so wouldn't it be _proper_ for you to begin the exchange of information by obliging me my right to such things before yourself?"

Flicking his bangs out of his face with a swish of a head, Raito glared as he snarled out a response. "Raito. Yagami Raito. Now, you are?"

"Hm…" The other smiled mysteriously before pulling his free hand up to his mouth and nibbling on his thin pastel-colored thumb. "Pretty name."

"Are you deliberately being an ass, or does this level of jerky-ness just come naturally to you?" Raito deadpanned as the raven-haired stranger gave the teen a wide-eyed side-glance, his smile (which was only a small tilt of the lips to begin with) not falling from his lips in the least.

"I suppose you may call me Ryuuzaki." The man, now known simply as 'Ryuuzaki', seemed to delight himself on the name as he continued to grip Raito's slightly sweaty palm with an impossibly tight grasp. "Does Yagami-san usually make it his habit to be nearly pummeled by over-enthusiastic drivers, or was tonight a special occasion?"

"… … So it comes naturally, then." Raito stated firmly, telling himself that he did _not_ feel a thrill of excitement shoot up his spine as Ryuuzaki chuckled awkwardly at the lame joke. "It's kind of weird…"

"Yes?" Ryuuzaki held a wistful look in his twilight-speckled gaze as a wooded clearing leading towards Raito's house surfaced amongst the streetlights and large houses surrounding the two boys.

"This is going to sound really weird," Raito kept his grip firm within the other's, for some strange reason feeling more nostalgic than uncomfortable with the invasion of personal space on the other man's part. "But I feel like I've met you before. I just… can't recall where…"

"Impossible." The other stated, yet the delight the man thought hidden deep within his expression laid bare for Raito to see. "I haven't been in this area for very long, you see. I doubt we've met before tonight."

"Oh… I suppose it was just my imagination, then. There's just something about you…" Sensing something akin to a lie underneath the stoic voice's feeble excuse, Raito let the subject drop with a small fake smile, eyes widening at the sight of his house within the distance. "Wow. I've never made it to my house this fast before."

"Really?" Once again a small grin lay across those pallid thin lips as Raito felt his heart skip a beat within his chest. "I suppose I am just full of surprises, then."

"Most definitely…" Raito whispered as he made it to the small pathway leading to his house, finally letting go of the other's hand. Staring at the strange man once more, Raito pulled his keys out of his pocket before smiling over at the raven-haired stranger who simply stared back at him with vacant orbs of ebony.

"It was nice meeting you, Raito-kun." Ryuuzaki smiled in his awkward, yet still ever so endearing way as Raito himself made his way towards his door, keys jingling from the sway of jerky movements his hands seemed to be making, distinguishing just how uncomfortable he truly felt. "Farewell…"

"Uh… yeah, goodbye, I guess… but I need to ask you, Ryuuzaki. I didn't have to give you instructions on how to get to my house… How did you know where I lived, any-" Raito finally blinked as his keys hung from the door, spinning around to meet nothing but scenery and air. "-way."

Backing up against the looming piece of wood behind him, Raito quickly turned the knob digging against the lower right side of his back and fell inside, a sense of panic burning within his chest along with some other unnamable emotion he just couldn't place.

"Those eyes…" Raito whispered to himself as he shook his head, slipping down the doorway in a heap of limbs and confused emotions. "Where do I know those eyes from?"

Lifting his knees up to his chest, Raito laid his head against the thin joints as he closed his eyes and simply wondered.

* * *

'I need to be more careful. I almost… lost _control_.'

The thin stranger narrowed his usually wide-set eyes as dug his hands within his pockets, refusing to look back at the house that held the young boy with the most enchanting eyes he had ever seen.

'If not for his inquisitiveness, I may have even done the unthinkable.'

Keeping his steps steady and straight, the young man sighed before ducking his head and keeping his otherworldly eyes on the lumpy sidewalk leading back to his home where he would spend another night wondering about 'what-could-have-been's' and 'what-should-be's'.

'He was so close…'

Yet in the back of the man's mind, he knew…

It was all just another night's fantasy. He would _never_ be able to get as closely to the teen as he would really like to be. Always out of touch… but never too far to be unnoticed.

Whether the teenager ever truly realized it or not.

* * *

"Raito?" Soichirou blinked as he stared at his son's prone form on the floor, eyes as blank as ever. Leaning down, the older man placed a hand over the sedentary 17-year-old clutching onto his knees as if they were a lifeline of some sort. "Raito, are you ok?"

"I…" Glossy brown locks fell further against the boy's flawless tan skin as he shook his head in murky bewilderment, eyes still far away from both his home and his father. "Yeah. I just… I just need to rest for awhile, ok?!"

Standing up, Raito pushed past his father as he ran upstairs and slid into his room, slamming his door shut with a loud clash of sound.

Soichirou blinked before scratching his head.

"… … … I guess he doesn't want any meatloaf then. More for me, then. Meatloaf time, meatloaf time, everybody loves them some meatloaf time…"

Walking back into the kitchen, the aging father absently wondered if he would _ever_ come to understand the mess of emotions that made up his spastic, if near perfect, son as he ate his meatloaf in contented silence.

* * *

'A person just doesn't just wave to you one minute and then _vanish _into thin air the next! No, what he did was just about impossible. And his reflexes… he just threw himself onto the street without a care in the world, and the car was barely _centimeters _away from me!' Raito paced within his room as he raked his hands through his short brown locks in frustration, eyes sparking a near blood red without him noticing as his aggravation grew by the second. 'I didn't even see anybody behind me, and he just _flew_ out of nowhere and pushed me out of the way as if it were no trouble at all! No scratches, no scrapes… the only sign of altercation was the dirt on his clothes, and even _that_ was minimal!'

Sitting on his bed, Raito plopped back and sighed.

'_Yet the real question you keep avoiding is how did he know where you lived… especially if he just 'allegedly' moved into town?_'

Rolling onto his side, Raito refused to shiver in both fear and excitement.

Whoever this guy was… Raito was going to find out the truth behind his story.

'Ryuuzaki…'

Even his name sounded fake!

Closing his eyes, Raito barely felt his body melt his body melt against the mattress as his mind succumbed to the beautiful relaxation that was sleep.

'I'll… figure you out, Ryuuzaki… _no matter what_.'

Lying just a little bit away from his slumbering figure, his mother's journal seemed to glow as the moon illuminated its still form with its luminescent shine, the light pouring over the open window of the boy's bedroom as the leather-bound notebook was ignored for the time being.

* * *

"Watari!"

The old man nearly jumped out of the chair as he stared up at the vibrant if angry teenager staring down at him, the papers cluttered around him billowing up in a breeze of tumultuous irritation. Straightening the glasses against the bridge of his nose, Watari glanced up at his favorite spellbound reader to see only a mixture of emotions he had never seen within his young ward's eyes.

Perplexityand… _eagerness_?

It seemed Raito was on one of his special _mood-swings_ today.

"Ya-" One look at Raito's sound glare, Watari fixed himself before he even said the full name. "Raito-kun, how wonderful to see you again, even if you do not seem as equally pleased to see me in return."

Smoothening out the glare that sat on his normally clear gaze, Raito sighed as he made his way behind the counter and sat his satchel behind the large desk, sitting down beside the gentle librarian as he let his head fall on the counter in a clear sign of virile frustration.

"Wataaaaaaarrrriiiiii…" The boy whined, if cutely. (Though Watari wouldn't tell the kid _that_ in a million years… just looking at the child was enough to know he was a poster-child for adorable perfection) "Last night… sucked _so_ bad."

"I _told_ you that if you didn't want to help me with my paperwork-"

"_Not that_!Something happened after I left…"

"Really, Raito?" The elderly man took off his glasses as he gave the boy a sympathetic glance, trying not to be pulled in by those large glistening brown eyes full of agitation (something Watari had _never _seen in Raito's expression) and still that one emotion that seemed to elude the older man… "What happened?"

"Well… after I left here, I guess I was feeling much more tired than normal and almost, and I can admit, quite stupidly, got hit by a speeding car." Raito sighed as Watari almost fell over his chair.

"What?!"

"Yeah…" Picking up a pencil, the bored-looking brunette twirled it between his fingers as the silvery-haired librarian almost had a coronary and stroke all at once from the languid tone of voice Raito seemed to instill within his speech. "But some weird-looking guy with what looked like a hero-saving fetish pushed me out of the way before I could get hit by the idiot in his stupid-mobile."

"That doesn't sound too bad, Raito." Watari shook his head, wondering how a child so smart could be so _stupid_ sometimes. "At least you weren't hurt."

"Last night, yeah! But that guy… Watari, he led me home, and I'd never even met him before! It was freaky! And then, he just disappeared without a trace!" Raito threw down the pencil and sat up straight, his eyes burning with a newfound rage that had even Watari shrinking back in nervousness. "For all I know, I'll find some creepy-looking dark-haired gremlin sitting on my bed chewing on his thumb like it was nobody's business whilst he jacks-off to an image of myself that he keeps in his pants tonight when I get home…"

"Wha-what did you say?" The older of the two stuttered as a something _familiar_ struck him within the fairly disturbing sentence. "Did you just say something about the man chewing on his thumb?"

"Yeah… he kept chewing on his stupid thumb when he was talking to me and kept his other hand in mine whilst doing it!" Looking completely repulsed, Raito gagged immaturely as Watari stifled a chuckle at the rare show of age on the teenager's part. "And he had these large dark eyes like I've never seen before… except…"

Raito stalled as he the funny look disappeared from his face, leaving behind a shadow of nostalgia that seemed to echo with the lonesomeness that Raito had been feeling for the past couple of years. "I feel like I _have_… Does that sound crazy, Watari? A part of me recognized something about his eyes, yet I feel like I've never met the crazy guy in my life."

"No, Raito." Watari smiled as he patted the young boy on the head, his own set of baby-blue eyes shining with newfound delight. "Not at all. In fact, I doubt that man will bother you after last night, especially from how you've spoken to him. Besides, if he was a stalker, why wait until now to show himself after you were nearly run over? Not everyone has such impure thoughts tainting their minds, son. He may live near you and have been too shy to actually approach you. You do give off an air of intimidation, Raito."

"Yeah, yeah…" Leaving his book-bag on the floor, Raito stood up before stretching his back, not noticing a pair of cute teenage girls giggling as they ogled his lithe form and angled features. "But you know, Watari… when he said goodbye to me… or should I say, 'farewell', it seemed so final. And it's going to sound completely weird and probably a bit contradictory after all the things I've said about him, but I didn't want… I didn't want for him to just disappear like that. I've never met anyone so… different and out of touch like him before. He reminded me of…"

'He reminded me of myself.'

"What was his name, Raito?" Watari curiously asked before the boy could wander off into the library once more.

"Uh… well, he _said_ his name was 'Ryuuzaki', but…" Furrowing his eyebrows, deep wrinkles formed across the student's forehead as mocha-brown eyes burned a light amber color in distress. "I don't think that's his _real_ name, if you ask me. There was this air of deceitfulness around him. I just can't pinpoint it out. There was something about him the was just… _guarded_."

"Oh, don't think about it so much, Raito." Watari smiled and nodded before waving Raito off. "Go enjoy your book-reading time and try to balance yourself the only way you know how."

Nodding in exhaustion, Raito bumbled his into the large corridor that lead to the spacious interior of the library filled to the brim with bookcase upon bookcase of books.

Standing up, Watari turned around and grabbed the knob of the door, a smile brightening his wrinkled face as happiness filled his core.

'It seems that 'eventually' has turned into '_now_', L.'

* * *

"Yes, Watari?" The raven-haired boy (_if only in appearance_) turned towards him as he pulled the book away from his face, dark eyes blending in perfectly with the dim lights of the small room that housed him.

"You spoke with him." Watari simply stated, the smile once again threatening to overcome his face. "You spoke with him and nearly gave yourself away. I must say, L, you certainly are slipping."

"It was only because if I had not interfered he would either be hospitalized unnecessarily or _dead_." L snapped, his normally smooth voice tightening with an annoyance he refused to show outwardly. "He won't have to worry, if that's why you're here. I won't bother him with my presence again. Not like before…"

"You sound as if you're worried about what he might think of you." The much more wrinkled-face of the two seemed to be brimming with mirth as L threw down his book, his wide eyes narrowed with as much agitation he could show.

"I'm not frightened in the least. I simply meant that he would not have to be punished by my insufferable person after last night's near-disaster." Was the stoic reply, but Watari could translate L-speak thoroughly at this point in their relationship.

'_I'm scared __**shitless**__, of course. Why else would I be buried in my batcave daydreaming about what could be?!_'

'Of course he tries to deny himself even the most simplest of emotions.' Watari almost chuckled at the thought, eyes set on the ageless figure in front of him, pastel skin illuminating within the dark light of the room, sharp features off setting the rounded orbs made of obsidian staring back at him. 'L tries _so hard_… but he knows he cannot keep the truth from me even if he tried.'

"Last night, Watari…" L sighed as he pulled his knees away from his chest, closing his wide eyes made of ember. "It was like a dream. And like an imbecile, I allowed myself to be pulled in without a second thought. But I will not succumb to such a need again. He is doing just _fine_ without my added baggage on top of his own."

"Even if he wanted to see you again?"

The other gasped as those black-holes for eyes snapped open once again, both hesitant and eager to clasp onto what Watari was saying.

"L, I know just _why_ you feel the need to block him for your life, and why vice-versa, but I've only ever seen you truly _alive_ when watching him. Despite what you say, your actions continue to speak louder than words in so many ways." Watari put a hand on his companion's shoulder as that wistful look that L knew would always linger within his own gaze fluttered across his aging friend's face. "Tell me, after all this time leaving an existence that you can't even _stand_, are you really going to steal this decision away from him, too? He already has had so much taken away from him before even knowing the truth as to _why_."

With those last words, Watari left the other man to his books and self-induced solitary confinement, hoping that for once, Raito's own will was both heard and adhered to.

* * *

Putting down his book, Raito sighed as a baritone voice once again slithered into his ear.

"_Farewell…"_

'Why did you have to say it that way? What if… what if I don't _want_ you to just _disappear_? Why do I even _care_ anyway?! So what if he was different… I don't need anybody else in my life, right? I've got Watari, dad and-'

"Hey!"

Jumping up from his seat, Raito almost dropped the book within his hands as a head full of eclectic red hair and blazing green eyes almost made him blink back a face of surprise.

"That's a cool book! I've read that one before… ending's awesome!"

Holding the book back, the title "I Am Legend" glistened over the soft-cover book.

"Uh… I don't think this book is meant for kids your age to be reading." Raito smiled indulgently as the child before him snarled, a pair of golden-orange goggles bouncing against his head as he bounced in agitation.

"Hey! I'm older than I look, ya know! Just because we don't all age at ten years all at once like _you_ do, doesn't mean we're immature. Gawd." Rolling his eyes, the 11-year-old almost busted out laughing as Raito's face imitated a statue. "I'm _mature_ and _respectable _and just about an all-around _fantabulous_ guy."

"I'm sure you are, Mail." Raito smirked before standing up and cradling the book close to his person. "Hey… where's Mihael?"

"I don't know, off having a chocolate orgasm for all I know." Mail pouted as he pulled the goggles over his eyes, leaving him with an orange bug-eyed appearance that actually seemed to suit him pretty well, all things considering. "Are you leaving already, Raito? We haven't even seen each other in like, years. I just wanted to spend some time with ya, babe."

"It's been three days, you dork." The brunette ruffled the younger boy's hair before twirling around in a semi-flamboyant sway. "And yes, it's _only _been three days. Isn't it about time you guys got home, anyway? It's already eight-thirty, and I _know _you're about ten minutes away from another grounding, mister."

"Yeah, whatever, oldie…"

Raito ignored the dumb insult and strolled back into the main foyer, barely flinching as a bundle of stripes and faux-fur flew past him, sure that he was going to gather his best friend before _both _of them were grounded for life. Smiling wistfully to himself, Raito barely noticed the small grin on Watari's face as crossed the large surface of the overwhelming desk and grabbed his book-bag, waving the book so that Watari would know that he held it.

"I'll be going home now, Watari."

"Of course, Raito." The mustached man smiled genteelly as he patted the boy on the shoulder. "Be safe, son. I _mean_ it."

Raito snorted before shouldering his large pack over his shoulder and rolling over to the large see-through double-doors with little to no difficulty. Coming out of his chair with a small sigh, Watari opened the door behind him, ready to _once again_ attempt to make the other man see reason-

To find the room utterly empty.

Feeling the splitting grin cut across his lips, slightly weathered hands plucked the glasses away from his aging face as Watari closed the door once again.

It seemed that now that fate had finally decided to play her hand, that L had decided to play his own as well.

'May both of you find what you are looking for in each other…'

* * *

Feeling the familiar weight of books against his lean back, Raito barely had any time to prepare himself for the shock in front of him as he leapt over the small set of stairs, making his way down the pathway towards the sidewalk-laden street.

Looking upwards, Raito nearly fell over his own two feet as a pair of familiar dark eyes (_this time, he knew he recognized them, and had seen them once before_) and two arms covered in rough dull white fabric caught his imminent fall from astonishment. Smiling his gauche smile, Ryuuzaki held onto the boy's thin shoulders as those cinder-encrusted orbs sparked alive with emotions that seemed both awkward and ethereal over his gaunt features.

"Hello, Raito-kun."

Feeling that same airy feeling as the night before, when emotions hadn't been able to be processed and touches freely exchanged, Raito simply did the first thing that came to mind.

He punched him in the face.


	4. Giving into Temptation

A.N: Heh, heh, sorry about the long wait, you guys! But I'm back! With a new chapter! To this story! With lots of exclamation points! And... exclamations?

Hoosha. Lol.

Things start to really progress in the next couple of chapters... and as a warning, in the next two or three chapters, a whole lot off stuff happens plot-tastically. And things may get confusing, even if just a tiny bit.

But it wouldn't be a Hari-Aisu-story if things in the plot didn't get confusing at least... oh, I don't know, maybe once, twice, _several times _throughout. XD

Muchos gracias, merci's and arigatou's thrown Kitsune55's way for beta-ing this chapter! She get's _two _gold stars now. Lol!

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Three: _Giving into Temptation_

* * *

"_Ow_…"

Raito blinked as he stared at the strange man holding onto his very, _very _purple-blue nose, slouched over in what looked to be pain and then glanced over at his fist, now turning a vicious scarlet red against the tanned skin of his knuckles.

"What…"

It took all but a minute for Raito to realize…

"What was that for?!"

His hand actually _hurt like hell_!

"Jesus!" Raito shook his hand as the beginnings of bruising settled itself over his fingers and edges of his knuckles, ignoring the now barely-bruised face of the slightly agitated stranger looming over him, jumping up in down like an over-excited schoolgirl. "What the heck is your face made out of, cement and an impenetrable amount of never-ending stupid?!"

"… … No, it is made out of _karma _and _just-desserts_. Now would Raito-kun please explain just _why_he felt the need to punch me in the face?" Ryuuzaki muttered as the bruising seemed to _all but disappear _as Raito cradled his hand against his chest, bright amber eyes still shining with pain and disconcertment. "Raito-kun gives me _completely_ mixed signals to work with…"

"What the… hell…" Raito stared at the now bruise-less patch of skin as his hand laid forgotten within the other's grip, taking a step forward as Ryuuzaki froze within his slumped position. "Are you a magician or something?!"

"No…" Ryuuzaki smirked as he gave his nose a small pat before straightening up and nearly closing the distance between both himself and Raito, eyes glistening as a small ring of ice-blue formed around his iris, freaking Raito out of his mind as he nearly stumbled back in alarm. "Just special."

"Yeah, well, don't think I don't know your game, you freaky maniac!" Raito spat out as he re-shouldered his book-bag, eyes blazing crimson red in rage. "You're some fanatical stalker with crazy mutant genetics out to get me, aren't you?! Well, let me tell you, if you want to kill me, rape my dead body and bury my corpse in your secret closet of freaktivity, you can just stop dreaming cuz I won't allow it!"

The dark-haired man blinked, and watched as Raito then waved his fist in the air, eyes actually alight with laughter.

"I think Raito-kun has been watching one too many horror movies." Ryuuzaki simply replied as he chuckled, wondering if this boy would _ever _cease to amuse him. "I simply wished to say 'hello' and see how you were doing, but if Raito-kun would prefer it if I were to leave immediately and never speak to him again, then-"

"I didn't say that…" Cheeks turned a rabid scarlet red as Raito fidgeted with the straps of his carry-on, eyes cooling into a melted chocolate-brown as the pain within his right hand slowly pooled away. "It's… well, no offense, but you're kind of creepy. And the eye thing… and the nose thing… _what the hell_?"

"Thanks." Ryuuzaki deadpanned as he gave Raito a blank stare, shoving his hands within his pockets.

"That… that came out wrong, didn't it?" Raito kicked some dirt with his foot as the raging heat settled over his cheeks only became all the more inflamed. "I don't mean 'creepy' creepy, just… 'weird' creepy."

"Is there really a difference?" The dark-haired stranger chuckled as the blushing student nearly tripped over his own feet… without moving an inch.

Why had he deprived himself of this again?

"Yes!" Raito burst out as he began to speed walk away from the library, obviously expecting Ryuuzaki to follow his lead. "There's the kind of creepy that makes your skin crawl, and the kind of creepy that tells you when someone's pedophile or rapist status, and then there's the strange creepy vibe that makes a person go 'what the hell?' That's totally you, by the way. I think you're the poster child for double-takes with the way you carry yourself."

"Once again," Ryuuzaki caught up with Raito in barely two bounds, keeping up with the boy's manic pace rather fantastically despite his contradictory appearance. "Thanks."

"I'm not trying to insult you or anything, just… _enlighten_you." Raito decisively nodded as he forced himself to look away from the smirk forming on the other's lips as they continued to walk on the never-ending sidewalk leading the way to his home. Glancing at the street where just last night he had almost been decimated to a nice gooey pulp, Raito sighed as the crisp night air whiplashed around the both of them. "Aren't you cold? Why aren't you wearing a jacket, anyway?"

"Don't need one." Was the simple reply as the pale-skinned boy skipped over a large gap between the tiles of cement, eyes once again a full ebony-black. "Raito-kun hits me, then thoroughly insults me, and all towards the fact that he feels that I need to be enlightened. Lovely."

"Seriously…" Raito winced as his book-bag swung against his lean back, new questions building up within his mind along with the old. "What the hell was that? A bruise doesn't just disappear in the seconds!"

"Ah… it seems I shall have to tell Raito-kun my ultimate secret, then. You see, Raito-kun… I…" Stopping mid-step, Ryuuzaki turned towards the now shocked boy as the night air grew all the colder, the tip of the boy's nose turning a bright red along with his cheeks. Curious amber eyes seemed to glow within the dim lights illuminating down on them by the street lamps as Ryuuzaki took a step towards the boy before grabbing his arm and pulling him down so that his mouth laid next to his ear. "Am secretly Wolverine from the X-Men. Rawr."

"Damn it, Ryuuzaki-san!" Raito pushed the jokester away from his personal bubble as he raucously laughed, the semi-awkward smile on his face lighting up his dark eyes and nearly pallid features immensely. Stomping on the sidewalk rather femininely, Raito put his hands on either side of his hips as he glared over at the quiet assumed to be interloper, his anger palpable within the air. "I'm being serious! There's something about you that just doesn't sit right with me!"

"Is it my charming smile and wonderful personality?" Ryuuzaki quipped as the brunette beside him steamed in quiet anger, the crimson glow in his eyes expanding exponentially. "Or perhaps Raito-kun is just secretly attracted to… freaks?"

Throwing his book-bag onto the ground, Raito audibly growled as the other much more passive man simply stared at him in absconded delight, seeming to take amusement in the boy's eruptive temper. "What is the matter with you?! I can already tell you're not normal, but this is just taking the damn cake!"

"… … … Raito-kun has cake?" Ryuuzaki blinked as he began to innocently gnaw on his thumbnail, eyes now speckled with dots of silver as wild strands of obsidian hung over those hypnotizing orbs pulling Raito in even whilst the man's words pushed him away.

"I amuse you, don't I?" Raito quietly accepted defeat as he rolled his eyes, knowing that the man was simply rousing him out of some sick satisfaction gained by doing so. "In fact, you don't even have to answer that. I can pretty much tell that the angrier I get, the more amounts of happy I seem to bring to your world. Fan-freaking-tastic."

Picking up the other boy's book-bag rather chivalrously, Ryuuzaki once again smirked as he hefted it over his own shoulder, beckoning the younger of the two to follow his lead. "Raito-kun's own temper and paranoia are delightfully comical, that I will attest to. But if you would just give me a moment to at least _try _to explain myself, then you will simply run yourself around in circles. Does Raito-kun agree to at least attempt to listen to what I have to say?"

"… … … Fine." Raito finally consented, trying not to smile himself as Ryuuzaki spun around and bowed rather ridiculously. "I still think you're creepy, though."

"I doubt Raito-kun would ever think otherwise," Ryuuzaki replied with a strange look in his eyes, looking both contented and dismayed much to Raito's befuddlement. "_That_I most definitely know for a fact. Now, if Raito-kun would kindly follow me…"

"But… but it's a school night! I still have to get home, you know! And… and my dad! He'll get… worried?"

"And when has Raito-kun ever needed a full night's sleep to conquer something as dreadfully boring as school? Besides, Raito-kun's father, I'm sure, will deal with his alone time quite efficiently. Now come… we do not have all night."

Raito simply sighed, not wishing to know how Ryuuzaki knew as much as he did.

'_Cree-py to the next de-gree…_'

* * *

"Watari…"

The older man yawned as he peered over at the open kitchen door, the familiar feminine voice tinkling within the room like wind chimes and a breezy summer day. A slim silhouette hid itself from his aging gaze as a slim pale hand lightly caressed the old wood, manicured nails shining brightly against the dulled color of the lumber.

"Where is… L?" The whisper was almost hesitant, as if (and this was very much probably) they already knew the one they were searching for was not on the premises. "He has not spoken to me in some time, and I wished to know about the discernable progress he has made in part of his promise, which he has yet to keep."

"He is partaking in that… _promise _as of now, my lady." Watari smiled as he rubbed his dark blue eyes with a wrinkled hand, the warming aura around the silhouette giving off a sweet glimmer of satisfaction.

"Is he?" The woman's delight could not be masked by the darkness as she hid her smile behind the edge of the door she stood behind, warm brown eyes lightening to an euphoric amber. "I thought that he had refused to meet with the boy again?"

"I believe he has had a change of heart, dear." Watari put down the glass of water he had held within his other hand and sat down at the just a bit away from him. Beckoning the woman closer, he was not the least bit surprised when she simply took a step back.

"A change of heart, you say? Well, let's hope that this 'change of heart' isn't one he decides to be fruitless and discard it so callously like he did before." The almost bitter reply floated out on its own accord, stinging the old man directly where it hurt.

"It was not callous, but necessary. You knew that when he did what he did." Watari retorted, even if the argument was as brittle as the glass still lying within his grasp.

He had had a part, if small, in the first… _occurrence_, after all.

'Lot good my interference did either of them.' Watari scoffed at himself before nodding in acquiescence.

"What would you like for me to give to him as a message, if you are not offering to await his arrival, my lady?"

"Is he serious in his decision this time?" The woman ignored his question in favor of one of her own, eyes now burning within the dark so brightly, that Watari could see them as clear as day.

"Yes, you know he would not make the same mistake twice."

"Then tell him this," The woman slowly backed away from the door, even as her voice carried strongly within the room, reminding the aging librarian of just how much power she actually possessed. "This is his last chance. _If_ he does not keep to his promise this time, then I shall take the boy myself. I shall give him three full moons… and if a bond is not made, our deal is broken by both our magistrate's law and my own _will_. Am I making myself clear enough, _Quillsh_?"

"Yes, dear, I am quite sure you have." Watari gave the shadows a sparing smile as he clutched the clear glass within his old hands, already feeling the other's presence disappearing completely from his kitchen. "I, in fact, believe that you could not have made yourself clearer even if you had tried."

* * *

"And here I thought you wanted to batter me to a pulp and eat my brains for a nice midnight snack." Raito sarcastically quipped, a laughing gleam within his mocha-brown eyes. "But all you really wanted to do was cover up your creepy façade with lots of caffeine and possibly ungodly amounts of strained conversation. Whether it's at least going to be intelligent conversation, has yet to be decided."

Opening the door for the younger man, bright lights within the small familiar diner they now inhabited blared down on the two men, one nervous as he fidgeted with his thin coat as the other still carried the other's back-pack over his shoulder, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable with the setting whatsoever. A waitress coyly smiled over at the two as they gave the place a quick look around-

Before slamming into another customer and letting all the items that had been slung over her hands and arms in platters fall to the floor in a mess of suddenly inedible food.

"Well, that was graceful…" Raito muttered as Ryuuzaki snickered, both of them sitting down at the booth on the farthest corner of the diner, the homey environment actually calming the younger of the two as his fidgeting slowly decreased. Watching his unwitting dark-haired counterpart uncaringly toss his backpack over on his side, the awkward sitting arrangement that Ryuuzaki folded himself into made Raito almost flinch before he unconsciously shrugged the discomfort away a second later.

'Might as well save all _that _creeped-out-ness for later…'

"I wonder when we will be waited upon…" Ryuuzaki muttered as he began to chew on his thumb rather anxiously, his eyes darting about rather nervously. Raito blinked as his… friend's expression shifted into one of apprehension, wondering where all the bravado that had been drowning over in waves had disappeared into.

"Hm… I'm not really hungry, so it doesn't really matter to me." Raito replied, once again wondering just what this guy's deal was. "Aren't we here to discuss your weirdness, anyway?"

"… … … But what is a good discussion without delicious pie to go with it?" Ryuuzaki blinked as Raito very nearly slammed his head against the hard wood surface of the table, frustration now becoming his main emotional output in concerns to the man sitting across from him like an idiot on drugs.

"Because THAT doesn't sound like stalling at all…" Was all Raito mumbled as he ran a hand across his face, feeling oh so tired of the same run around routine. The exhaustion of the past two days was finally catching up to him, and now the boy had to wonder if this was all really worth it.

So what if Ryuuzaki was interesting? He could be at home reading his damn books before getting some nice, wonderful sleep full of fluffy dreams about comfy pillows and crunchy potato chips.

'Mm… potato chips…'

Ok, so maybe Raito was a _little _hungry.

'Not that I would tell _him_ that…'

"Hi! How can I help you tonight?!" A perky voice interrupted Raito's heavy 'brooding', making him raise an automatic eyebrow over at the little gremlin now grinning strangely at the waitress no doubt sweating in uneasiness.

"I will have two pieces of cherry pie, a slice of your Bundt cake, 3 blueberry muffins and a cup of coffee, extra cream and extra sugar on the side, if you wouldn't mind. And my companion will have a grilled chicken sandwich, light mustard, with coleslaw on the side and an iced-tea, lemon in the tea." Ryuuzaki said this all without blinking, the creepy smile not leaving his mouth for one moment. "That'll be all for now."

Raito couldn't really say who was more shocked; him, or the waitress.

"O-of course, sirs. If you'll excuse me." The waitress stumbled over her feet as she gave them a small wave, her eyes roving from guy to guy before scurrying away from the table in a small dash.

Raito sat there still staring, trying to process everything the elfin stranger had just said.

Yeah… Raito was definitely the more shocked of the two.

"You… you…" Raito took in a deep breath before closing his eyes and counting to twenty, not noticing the amused smirk sent in his direction as Ryuuzaki's narrowed furtively. "Overlooking your weird eating habits and the fact that you seem to be _trying _to eat your way to diabetes by the end of our… talk, I have to ask… are you _trying_ to broadcast yourself as a stalker, or is it some weird, far-fetched, most likely inconceivable coincidence that you know _exactly_ what I order when I come here?"

"Weird, far-fetched, most likely inconceivable coincidence?" Ryuuzaki hid his smile behind his hand as he slouched lower within his own self, seeming to compact himself even further as people began to glance over at the two 'teens' making a scene without even having to raise their voices.

"Ok, now you're just flaunting your psychotic-ness, thanks."

"I try." The dark-haired man nearly chuckled once again as Raito leaned back into his chair, giving him the eye of death. "What?"

"You're so weird."

Reaching over the, man held out his hand in what looked to be surrender. Raito glanced at the open palm before glimpsing back up to the coveted expressions hidden within the other man's face.

"My apologies, then. I suppose when it comes to Raito-kun, I just can't help myself."

* * *

"_L, what are you doing!" _

"_My apologies, Raito-kun." A pale hand came forward as the boy stared up at the blurred face, face alight with embarrassment. "I suppose when it comes to you, I find I just can't help myself." _

* * *

Raito gasped as the familiar voices and hazy images faded away from his conscious mind, Ryuuzaki staring at him as if he were going into shock, his hand still lying open in front of him. Pale skin, almost a slight blue in tint, stretched across flesh and bone as the nimble hand full of smooth pasty white covering spoke of untold stories and lack of any age, _whatsoever_.

"Raito-kun…?"

"Heh… This is going to sound… strange, but I don't know… I just…" Raito blinked as he crossed one of his legs on top of the other, eyes dimming as he focused into a somewhat blank spot within his mind… "Déjà vu, maybe? Forget it."

Grabbing the hand in front of him, Raito smiled as he shook it gently. "I don't really know who you are, and I don't really know how you know me, but I'm not really one for hiding behind fear. You're interesting… so I'll take a chance. You won't disappoint me, yeah?"

'There's something about you that I know. There's a truth here that's buried within me…'

Raito laughed as the other blinked in surprise, before nodding as well.

"Raito-kun wishes to know more about me? I would have thought I would have scared you off at this point."

'Normally, you would have. Normally, I would have run as fast as I could just on our first meeting, but…'

"You've caught my attention. That's not something I give away very easily." Raito shrugged, the fake smile still decorating his face. At first glance, you would have thought that the strange anomaly that was Ryuuzaki had fallen for his words hook, line and sinker, but those eyes…

Much like Raito's own, they gave him away with a sharp edge of intelligence that lingered just below the surface.

"Here you go, sirs!" The nervous waitress once again interrupted their conversation as she set down all the various plates in front of them, the look on her face hinting on the itching sensation to get as far away from their table as fast as possible. "Enjoy!"

"Thank you." Raito quietly grabbed his iced tea, eyes locking with Ryuuzaki's in a silent battle that seemed older than time.

'I won't let you slip past me. We're both connected to each other somehow, and I intend to find out _why_.'

"So, we'll have to make sure to meet up again after this, ok Ryuuzaki?" The brunette teen smiled rather prettily as raven-haired man narrowed his wide-set eyes in what looked to be delight.

"Of course, Raito-kun. Of course…" Taking a large bite out of one of his muffins, the creepy stare only continued in full force. "You go to the library I've met you in front of a lot, yes?"

'You're the damn stalker, you should know, shouldn't you?' Raito almost snapped out, but held his tongue long enough to know better.

He'd leave the snarky comebacks for a later date.

"I suppose." The quiet student replied, watching the other tear apart all of his confectionary foods without abandon.

"To prove to Raito-kun that I am not a stalker, I shall only contain my visits to the library, and no where else unless Raito-kun himself deems it alright." The cake-devourer suddenly announced, making more than few other customers stare back at their table in both wonderment and bemusement.

Raito just about disappeared within his seat altogether.

"You _really_ didn't have to say that out loud, you know…" The boy muttered before taking a prim bite out of his sandwich. "But I doubt you very much care, so whatever."

"Hm." The grin on man's face seemed to convey just how much he _cared_. "So?"

"So?" Raito repeated before the tickling sensation in the back of his mind returned full force, only to be ever instigated by this man's presence. "So I guess I'll be… seeing you tomorrow at the library?"

"Very good, Raito-kun." Ryuuzaki stirred in unimaginable amounts of cream and sugar into his coffee (_was it even considered coffee at this point?_) before taking a long slurping sip of it mid-sentence. "I shall hope to show you that I am a completely trustworthy person and not at all as… creepy as you think I might be."

Raito gave him a dead stare.

'Besides from the fact that you know where I live, know what I eat and know exactly where I spend my free time at.' The boy mentally added in, his stare not lessening by the second.

Ryuuzaki simply smiled once again.

"Muffin, Raito-kun?"

Raito sweat dropped as he took another bite out of his sandwich.

'Dear God, what did I just commit myself to?'

* * *

"Well, thanks for dinner, I guess." Raito jumped up the stairs, barely looking behind him as Ryuuzaki followed behind rather closely. "Tomorrow, I'll see you at the library."

"I will be waiting for Raito-kun by the tables directly behind the stairs." The man stated, immediately noticing the uncomfortable stance the other seemed to take on automatically as he stood in front of his door, hands fidgeting with the plying wood of the aging entrance.

"Raito-kun looks nervous…" Ryuuzaki stated as Raito shifted from foot to foot, standing outside his door with his hand still on his knob. "And _especially _conflicted. Does Raito-kun want a hug?"

Forcing himself not to lose his nerve, Raito leaned forward and pressed his lips against the other's cold cheeks, almost freezing in comparison to the temperatures of the winds blowing around them.

"Payback, right? For the hit… Think of it as an… apology." Raito blushed before rushing inside the house, barely looking back as he opened the door with his keys and locking it almost immediately there after.

The dark-haired stranger stared at the door in shock for a moment…

Before smiling in delight once more.

'Maybe this won't be so hard after all.' Was all the man thought before tucking his hands within his pockets and walking away from the house, eyes sparkling mischievously as he thought of the days to come.

"I won't accept anything less from you, Raito…"

* * *

Staring up at the large expanse of sky looming over him, Raito slowly let out a sigh, watching the air condense around his lips at the dropping temperatures of fall evaporating into the crystallized beginnings of winter.

The small weight of bound leather and aging paper sat on the boy's thighs as he thought of the night and where it had led him; no closer to figuring out the mysterious stranger who seemed to know him better than Raito knew himself. Those enchanting eyes that were unnatural in every way spoke of familiarity and comfort, two things Raito knew little about besides the small shroud that was his room and the library, which had become his haven of solitude.

Though socially-retarded, Ryuuzaki had charmed his way into once again gracing Raito's presence, which belied to the much darker and wily nature that had overwhelmed the 17-year-old on just first glance. There was a torrent of contradictions that snapped about pale-skinned stranger's façade, and Raito intended to find out just _who _it was that was truly hidden beneath all those calculative words and deceptive glances full of something akin to hope and… fear?

There was something beckoning him to look deeper into the character that the man had created, and Raito had to wonder if that was intentional… or not.

* * *


	5. Rising to the Occasion

A.N: I AM MADE OF WIN! Or slightly tarnished awesome sprinkled with a little bit of tub-ular.

Yes, I am a child born of the late eighties and raised in the nineties. Hear me roar. Rawr. XD

Anyway, you can thank both my slightly bipolar state and Kit-chan's super-fast beta-ing skillz for getting this chappie to you so early, and to compensate for the overabundance of RaitoxL interaction, I bring you this overabundance of... well, you'll just have to read and see. XD And guess what-

Who loves Raye Penber?

I DO, I DO! Oh, how he contributes to the plot in his own little way of his once again. Woot. ^.^ And more Soichirou craziness. I think I've gotten more comments about how funny/crazy/parentally-retarded Soichirou is in this story than any other I've written. And I can't say I'm too disappointed about that. HURRAY! ((Can you tell I need some sleep? Because I do.))

Super great thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing, once again. She is an angel in human form who doles out pocky like it's nobodies business. Bless her pocky-giving soul. XD

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Four: _Rising to the Occasion_

* * *

"You look as if someone has managed to catch you in a state of perpetual petrifaction." L stated as he entered the small kitchen, his dear old friend staring down at the table he sat beside with a pair of wide, dim eyes he hadn't seen in near years. "Are you alright, Watari?"

"I… suppose the company I had to keep earlier on shocked me to more than just a degree with what they had to say." Watari admitted, knowing that saying such a thing in the other man's presence was an invitation for investigation. "Do I really need to tell you just who came to visit us, my boy?"

"Of course not. It's never necessary, after all." A sly quirk of the lips was all the slumped being offered before taking a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes as he concentrated on his surroundings, looking for something, _anything_, out of the usual…

And finding it almost immediately.

"She came tonight, after years of pushing both Raito and I aside for her precious _family_?" The dark-haired male chewed on his thumbnail, eyes widening in thought. "It was an inevitable visit, I suppose. However, what was so different about tonight, pray tell? You usually look forward to her… _drop-in's_."

"She spoke of your promise and the bond." Watari confided, finally losing his spooked visage and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Nothing too unusual in regards to all of that… but I have to admit, there was something… not quite right about her appearance. She seemed much more impatient than before."

"… Really?" L rolled his eyes as he plucked at a strand of stray hair hanging over his nose. Rings of bluish-silver formed around the rims of his pupils, melting seamlessly alongside the dark irises of L's optics, expanding slowly but surely until his eyes were fully enveloped with the icy color. "I didn't think that was possible. In fact, I am now in a state of shock. You can't tell… but, it's most definitely true."

"Right." Watari unwittingly felt his own nervousness sting as an aura of power strummed within the room, pouring over from one person _in particular_. "Because that didn't sound sarcastic at all, L. Now are you going to listen to what I have to say or not?

"I always listen to you, Watari." L muttered lowly, quite sure that the old man couldn't hear what he was saying, even straining his hearing to do so. "Even when I do not actually want to."

Oblivious to the mumbled snark thrown his way, Watari toyed with the glass still sitting on the table, dark blue eyes dim with thought. "There's something else going on here. There was more than just relief within her when I spoke of you finally commencing in your relationship with Raito. Truth be told, I believe there may be other forces at work against you, L. I wouldn't delay in forming whatever connection you can with the boy, especially if what is happening is as horrible as I sense it to be."

"Do you really think so?"

Watari gave him _the look_.

It was one L knew very well, after all.

"Yes, her timing is just a bit _too_ coincidental, yes? Too much so to be all fate's doing…" L walked past the table and made it to the staircase leading to his room, eyes narrowing as the drooping dark shadows beneath them only accentuated the sparks of silver-blue igniting within the entirety of the man's irises. "How long has she given me to complete our bargain?"

"… … Three months time."

"Only that much? Does she expect me to work a miracle?"

"I suspect she expects you to relinquish your hold on his memories." Watari watched as L's back straightened, a snap of vertebrae and the familiar echo of teeth gnashing against each other the only sound within the room before a pale hand gripped the banister of the staircase. "L, it may be the only way to finish this without travesty. And even if he does not _want_ what you have to offer after learning the truth… aren't they his own memories to keep regardless? Without them, he is only half of the person he used to be, and even _he_ knows it!"

"I made my choice on that a long time ago, Watari." L gave the man a passing glance over his shoulder before quickly falling back in step with the stairs, his voice beginning to slowly fade as he made it up stairs. "There is no going back now."

"Then I suppose we really _are _all doomed then, aren't we?" The old man whispered as he set his hands upon the table, knowing the other's sharp senses had picked up on his words, yet doing nothing to silence himself.

'_I suppose so._'

* * *

"And you went _where _exactly last night?" Soichirou stared at the boy as Raito brushed back his honey brown locks, barely looking the least bit ruffled as he straightened out his school uniform and rolled his matching colored eyes. "Don't bother to give me the 'cool teen' attitude, Raito, I'll just beat the answer out of you instead."

"Oh… violence from a man who looks like he's about a decade away from reaching his own cold dead grave." Raito made a little hand gesture in mock-fear as Soichirou felt his eye twitch in annoyance. "I'm so scared."

"_Raito_."

The brunette student sighed as his father proceeded to give him the parental stink-eye, crossing his arms against his chest with a small glare of his own. "I went to the diner just a couple blocks up from our house and had some extra-late dinner with a friend from school. You know, the place your _friend_ owns."

"First off, _stop talking like that _whenever you refer to one of my friends, because I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood thinks I'm banging half of the town with the way you speak, young man," Soichirou snapped as Raito began to walk out the door, following him outside as he held onto his son's carrying case. "Secondly, I would _appreciate_ if you didn't take that tone with me when I'm actually trying to be a responsible parent, _son_, seeing as one of us has to stay in reality in between your daydreaming and my working."

"Yeah, yeah…" Raito waved the other off as he jumped the steps of their porch and gave his father a small smile in amends. "I'll be sure to remember that next time you're about to lecture me on the importance of teamwork and parenthood, father dearest. Now, I'm off to endure another day of obnoxious teachers, brain-dead students and more of those pleasant daydreams you speak so _fondly _of. Halle Berry, here I come!"

"Aren't you the funny one today?"

"I'm the funny one _every _day." Raito gave his father a small salute as Soichirou handed his son his satchel, rolling his eyes as he watched his son run out of their yard and onto the cement sidewalk in a blur of green, white and red.

"What am I going to do with you, Raito?" The marketing executive muttered as he turned around and re-entered the house, hand already reaching for his cell phone. Looking down at his directory and pressing the 'call' button once he finally found the correct number, Soichirou closed the door behind him and smiled as the familiar roughened voice met his ears.

"Hey! Yeah, it's me for once… No, I'm not dead yet. Listen, I was just wondering if you were working at the diner yesterday by any chance. You see, Raito says he was hanging by over there and didn't get a chance to see you…"

It was never too early in the morning to keep tabs on your kids, after all.

* * *

"Hey, Soichirou! Long time no see!" Raye Penber smiled as the marketing executive made his way to the much younger man with ease, the diner behind him dim, but full of people. "You don't come as often as you used to. I was starting to think something had happened to you or Raito with the way you avoided this place!"

Laughingly waving away the other man's concern, Soichirou gave his friend a firm handshake before leaning against the railway leading up to the small establishment, eyes sparkling with delight. "Oh no, Raito's just going through his little teen-angst stage… everything including me has officially been written off as un-cool to even think about."

"Hm… he did seem different when I saw him come in last night." Raye ruffled his hair as he smiled wearily, dark locks now messily sprawled against his forehead. "He seemed… I don't know if twitchy is the word I'm looking for, but the guy he was with certainly gave off that vibe."

"Guy?"

"Yeah! He looked kind of familiar too… you remember that older kid Raito used to hang out with when he was younger?" Soichirou felt his face automatically pale as Raye pounded his hand against the other, fist clenching as he raked his thoughts for mindless details. "I didn't get a good look at them, seeing as I was just passing through to check up on how things were going in the diner, but he kind of looked like that other kid from back in the day. Scrawny, really pale, slim, hunched over-"

"Dark, almost completely black eyes with dark circles underneath them?" Soichirou finished for him, feeling the torrent of emotion break within his own mind.

"Yeah!" The half-American half-Japanese man laughed once again, lightening up his slightly weary features so that he looked like the thirty-year-old he was. "It was kind of eerie, to tell you the truth! But Raito didn't look as comfortable with him as he did the other kid from a couple of years back, so I kind of wrote 'em off as just passing acquaintances, ya know? They didn't look like they hated each other, but… there was no friendly intimacy either. It was almost funny to watch them bicker, truth be told. Never seen Raito get so riled up over some guy, especially one that looked like _that_."

"Right… Hm… _Not good_..." Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Soichirou wondered where he got his luck from.

Because it most certainly _sucked_.

"I think I have to step up the investigative factor on this… maybe get some bloodhounds and surveillance camera's, damn it." Soichirou muttered without thinking about it, not noticing as Raye nearly burst out laughing until the man actually almost landed on the ground in a fit of chuckles and guffaws. "What?!"

"My God, you are such an overprotective dad!" Raye managed to spurt out in between raucous bits of laughter, wondering if fatherhood was really supposed to make you _this _insane.

"Well, now that Naomi is pregnant, I suppose you'll have to share the feeling with me eventually, right?" Soichirou held a sharp knowing look within his eyes as Raye's face nearly dropped, the reminder of his own oncoming fatherhood enough to scare him into silence. "Don't worry so much about it, Raye, I'm sure you'll be fine… after the first five years. Then, you'll just have to deal with juvenile behavior, suspicious pupil dilation, and sass-talking until they're of age! Then, you just have to make sure they get into a semi-decent college and stay there, and you're basically in the clear! Unless they have some kind of hedonistic breakdown, and turn into liberal hippies who just smoke weed all day and stay locked in their parent's basement, wondering if the subliminal messages in their music will eat their brains… You might have to watch out for that, by the way. You never know what they put in the LSD these days, either."

Somehow, Raye's face paled even further.

"I'm… not so good at the pep-talking, am I?" The older of the two sweat-dropped as Raye just about fainted thinking of the coming years to come. "Uh… see ya later, Raye! Thanks for the info!"

Raye absently waved as the older, and much more neurotic, parent rushed his way back into his corvette/Pimp-Mobile, blinking as he fixed his rear-view mirror.

"Well then…" Soichirou snatched the key out of his pocket and turned it within the ignition, eyebrow twitching unconsciously as a stray hair hit the near-middle-aged man's dark brown left eye. "That most definitely went well."

* * *

Stroking the smooth leather exterior of the notebook lying on his lap, Raito folded his knees upwards as the large tree looming over his figure shaded him rather nicely. Sighing in relaxation, the boy closed his eyes as he laid his head back against the rough bark of the sturdy tree behind him. This had always been his favorite place to sit during lunch, and Raito doubted that would change any time soon.

Glancing down at the old journal he still held within his grip, Raito opened the book with a smooth, almost gentle, swipe of the hand, the fanciful English lettering always surprising him when he glanced down at the pages. His father had always told him that his mother had been Japanese, and from the appearance of his mother in pictures, Raito could see the Asian ancestry within her pretty petite features, but in her journal, she had always written in perfect English.

Most likely so that his father couldn't sneak peaks back in the day when she was writing, but how was Raito to guess on her reasoning why when he could barely remember what she looked like in his own memory, let alone what she was actually like.

All he had were the written words she had left for him, and the memories his father would relay to him from time to time, when the mood struck them and the feeling of nostalgia wasn't such a shameful emotion for either of them to sink into.

His mother's entries always started the same way…

* * *

_**My dearest and most beautiful burst of sunshine,**_

_**Today… has not been that great, if truth be told. **_

_**Usually, I have something fantastic to tell you (really, for all you know I make up most of the things I write about, but I'm sure if you asked your father, the look on your first would tell you whether I write lies or not!) but today was just… ah. **_

_**But everyday can't be a good day, so whatever. **_

_**You know what? Let's not even talk about today. Because today? Complete bullshit. **_

_**Sorry. Blame that on the bad day. **_

_**Now, what should I write about… **_

_**Well, this is quite the dilemma. I really don't know. How about this, I'll just leave the rest of the page blank and you write to me! Uh… I won't be able to read it, obviously, but let's get rid of some of that passive-aggressiveness I'm sure you inherited from me (but that's what your father has diagnosed you with from just playing with you, so don't take it too much to heart, my fellow passive-aggressor) and do something different for today! Like a form of therapy, except much more macho and discreet. You'll find that appealing to your masculinity, right?**_

_**Right. **_

_**Well… Uh… Here we… go? I'll just go to the next page while you're writing. **_

_**Take. Your. Time.**_

* * *

Raito

stared down at the blank half of the page staring up at him, the yellowed coloring of the paper mocking him along with the slightly crinkled edges fraying at the small chill of wind hitting it from all sides.

stared down at the blank half of the page staring up at him, the yellowed coloring of the paper mocking him along with the slightly crinkled edges fraying at the small chill of wind hitting it from all sides.

There were so many things he had wanted to say to his mother, but now, even given a chance (even if that chance was in the form of a piece of paper that she would never read) to finally unleash all those wants and questions…

Nothing seemed to come into mind.

Well…

Pulling out a pen from his satchel, Raito felt his lips pull up into a small smile as he skipped three lines from his mother's own graceful handwriting and translated what he wanted to say in his own mind into English.

There was only one thing he had to say to his mother, here or not.

* * *

_Out of every single thing that I've thought of in concerns to you throughout these long thirteen years, mother, there is only one thing that stands out against all the rest that I wish I could say to your face today._

_Wherever you are, I miss you…_

_Even if I can't remember you._

* * *

With that, Raito smiled as the school bell signaling lunch's end rang three times, marking the page he was at as the rest of the entry beckoned his lonely eyes.

Even though he could barely see her face in his mind's eye, or know what it was like to actually speak to her…

Somehow, he knew his mother would have been most happy with what he had to say.

* * *

The old man blinked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes straining as they concentrated on the mess of words implanted on the paper. Since his mini-discussion with L the night before, he had not seen the abnormal insomniac for the rest of the night and morning, his normal room in the back completely devoid of his presence.

Instead of wondering where the boy was, Watari once again blinked as the words in front of him blurred into a mess of ink blots and milky white.

'Hm… is it just me, or does the library seem to be a lot dimmer today than usual…'

"Watari!"

The old man felt the smile curl around his lips almost automatically as the familiar melodious tenor voice that seemed to make everyone within its vicinity (including a rather eccentric night-walker that seemed to live to stalk the poor boy) turn their heads. All sets of eyes immediately trailed after its bodily source as the brunette seemed to perk up in front of his desk, eyes alight with both glee and dare he say… _giddiness_?

Watari didn't know if he should be shocked, scared, or just… happy.

Maybe a combination of the three would be best?

"Uh…" Fingers twitching against the case straps hanging off his shoulders, Raito scuffed his feet against the carpeted floor as he his cheeks burned a cotton-candy pink. "Hi."

"Is something wrong, Raito?" Watari asked almost immediately, not sure if the shy look on his ward's face was a good thing or not. "You look… different today."

"I, ah… I'm just antsy, is all." Raito mumbled, actually managing to look both cute and ruffled at the same time without seeming completely _fake_ about it.

Now, Watari was most _definitely_ interested.

"Would Raito like to sit down and help me tackle this monster of a pile before he goes to his normal section?" The older man gave the fidgety brunette his patented 'I'm a cute old man, so if you say no to what I have to say, you'll probably go to hell for it' smile, knowing that no matter what Raito had to do in the mean time-

"Uh…" Raito gave a glance over at the stairs by his normal 'stalking' grounds, seeming to give a bit of an internal debate before turning back to his old friend and giving him a tired smile, not looking the least bit put out. "Sure?"

He'd get him first every time.

* * *

Staring down at the old book on the table, L sighed as he forced himself to continue to pretend the passage in front of him, slyly glancing at the clock on the far right wall underneath the large banister of the stairs blocking it slightly.

'3:15… where are you, Raito?'

Slim paper-white digits quickly smoothed back the untamable mass of soot-colored fringe falling over his forehead as L nervously pulled his bare feet up against the chair, immediately digging his fingers into his now upright thighs.

Keeping his eyes on the clock, L wondered if maybe, just maybe, Raito had just changed his mind altogether…

'_Even if he does, it would be his choice to make._' A small tinkling voice (which sounded suspiciously like a woman he knew _very well_) whispered in his ear, causing him to shift uncomfortably in the cushioned chair he sat upon. '_You've already taken so much away from him. Whether he chooses to re-live all of this once more is no longer your own decision to make, my dear. I'm afraid you've had your chance, L._'

"I see you've come to check up on me." L rolled his eyes, feeling a part of him stiffen in anger at the thought of being _invaded_ in such a way. "Did you miss me while you were away in Never-Ever Land, frolicking with all the other crazies that never seem to grow up?"

'_Quite the comedian, aren't you? We both know why I'm here, my dearest. I only wish to make sure that you don't make a mess of this once again, L Lawliet._' The voice seemed to radiate with both humor and just a tinge of impatience._'Just about everyone at this point knows you're ill-equipped at speaking with Raito without putting __**both**__ of your feet in your mouth…_'

"Touché." The wayward daydreamer smiled as he felt the other's presence sigh in exasperation, the temporary connection allowing him to feel the other's annoyance loud and clear. "So tell me, how shall I woo our dear bait so that he trusts me as unconditionally as you would like him to."

'_You know that that sort of trust is not going to be won over in little under ninety days…_' The voice seemed to pause, before striking up a familiar chord. '_Unless…_'

"No." L deadpanned, knowing exactly what the voice wanted to say without even needing the connection to express it for him. "That is not an option."

'_Then you will be leading him into a lie._'

"I realize this…" The dark-haired worrier muttered, placing his cheek against his left thigh as his arms encircled his calves. "I am not purposely chasing him here just to lead him on. Just… dreaming of what could have _truly _been, I suppose. All I can give him is what remains of me from before. I would be a fool to offer him anymore of me than possible."

'_Is that how you truly feel, L? I really hate to say this, but even without his memories, he seems to be gravitated to your presence. I suppose the two of you were destined for each other long before I asked you for that... **favor**._'

L ignored the voice's insinuations, glad that he didn't feel the need to blush as he toyed with the material of his jeans. "You don't need to worry about any of that. No matter what happens, Raito will always be _mine_. Nothing will change that."

'_The one thing I never doubted was the strength of your commitment to him, nor his towards you. I've given you time to make him your own, despite… controversy boiling over in my parts._' Without even able to see the woman's face, L could already sense the smile overcoming her lips.'_You are doing well to make the effort of appearing open for his judgment, as I'm sure the former bond the two of you used to share is resonating within him once again. But do not pressure him, L. I think we both know all too well how __**that **__shall result_.'

"Disastrously, of course." L mumbled out, glad that all of the other patrons within the library were far and away from him so that he wouldn't have to deal with any unnecessary stares or gawking on their part. "Yet what if he refuses to listen to reason? I still do not know how I'm supposed to explain all of this without damaging any potential relationship between us. He'll want the truth."

'_Then give it to him._' The voice faded as L closed his eyes, wondering why the fates always seemed to be pitched against him. '_You knew from the start that keeping his memories away from him permanently would be impossible. Whether you want to accept it or __**not**__, his decision depends on both the past __**and**__ the future to come…_'

Cursing the woman giggling in the back of his mind, L unfolded his body from the chair he was huddled within and felt the corners of his lips pull down almost imperceptibly to the common eye as his own orbs were covered in a translucent pewter sheen.

'He has always been mine… and I promise you, I will make sure it will continue to stay that way.' Sable-colored bangs obscured the man's vision as he sighed, the ferocity of the unnamable emotion welling up inside his chest scaring even _him_. 'No matter _what_ the consequences.'

* * *

"Raito, may I ask you something?" Watari gave the teen a careful glance as he finished up the last paper within the pile, now quite sure that there was both something more to the boy's impatience and a certain mysterious transient's disappearance.

"Sure, Watari." Raito set down the pen within his hand and gave the older man a small, but still very genuine smile of good faith. "With you, you know I don't have anything to hide."

Knowing this was quite true, Watari pulled off his glasses, dark cerulean eyes examining the boy beside them as they fiddled with the backpack lying beside their feet.

"There is someone waiting for you inside, isn't there?" The elderly librarian bluntly questioned, smiling indulgently as the young (_and certainly much too adorable_) man blushed seven different shades of red, his cheeks now resembling glistening rubies. "Ah…"

"I didn't… I mean…" Raito almost laughed before shaking his head and grabbing his bag. "Was I… that obvious?"

"Oh, yes." Watari nodded as Raito shook his head, sepia eyes ablaze with something akin to amusement. "Very much so. A little more effort would be nice if you are going to try to pull the wool over my aging eyes, Raito. You're belittling me this way."

"How do you know this wasn't all a pre-formulated plan to ensure that not only you knew about what I was about to do, but that if something happened, another person… let's say a very creepy and slightly off-balance person who looks as if heroin-skinny is still in style and baggy clothes are all the rage, was there at the time, and to send out police reports, ya know... just in case." Raito blurted out in one breath, not noticing the twitching smile Watari now held behind a lone hand covering the lower half of his face.

"Oh really? I don't doubt that in the least, Raito. You're genius amazes me even now." If Raito heard the laugh within his voice, he didn't acknowledge it, as the straight face he held didn't crack in the least. "But if it is alright to you, I have one request to make…"

"Yeah?" The barely affected student brushed some locks away from his eyes, the smile still not leaving his face as he moved away from the desk.

"May I meet him, Raito?"

"Meet... him?" Raito almost tilted over, wondering how it was that Watari knew him so well. "You want to… you want to meet… Wa-wait, what now?"

Quirking up a prominent eyebrow, Watari gave the boy a rather paternal (and sly) smile in return.

"Uh…"

Raito had to wonder just why he even put in the effort to act surprised, anymore.

* * *


	6. All at Once

A.N: Hi-hi, everyone. So... how _you _doin'? Lol. Sorry. I'm still kind of high off of my drugs... and I don't mean the good kind. What do you do when you're sick? Down disgusting medicine like it's nobodies business, of course. So don't mind me. I'm as high as kite. Whee. XD And as tired as a... well, let's just say I'm really damn tired, ok? Ok. Some of you are catching onto the little hints I've placed here and there, and I'm glad. It means when many of the big reveals come into the picture, they won't blindside most of you. Ha ha. Blindside. I think... that's it. I think I also go night-night now. Hope you enjoy the chappie.

Thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing for me, even while being as busy as she is. What would I do without you, girlie-girl? Lol.

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Five: _All at Once_

* * *

"Heh heh… meet… him… You're so… funny, Watari. Right? Joke? Funny?" Raito felt himself blush as his mentor/other guardian smiled genially at him, the sadistic pleasure at putting Raito on the hot seat burning deeply within his oceanic gaze. "You're so evil to me."

"It is only for your-"

"Protection… got it." Raito shoved the book-bag over his shoulder before nodding wearily, knowing Watari would do whatever he wanted no matter what he said otherwise. "After we're done talking, I _guess_ I could introduce you. But don't expect much out of him, Mr. Price. The guy's creepy as all hell, and doesn't take well to strangers from what I've seen of him and the general public."

"Oh, you have _no idea…_" Watari whispered as Raito turned around and gave him a half-hearted wave, a smirk settling over his lips before he began to look over his papers once again. "Poor, poor Raito…"

* * *

'_Oh, L…_'

L sighed as he covered his face with his hands, quite sure he was going to strangle the woman once he saw her face to face.

'Please stop it. He'll be coming any minute, and I would rather not say anything too peculiar out loud, when really it's _you_ I'm probably cursing at.'

'_Well, do you at least remember the plan?_'

'Yes… I've got it. Now please… just leave.'

'_Fine. But remember, I'm-_'

'Watching both Raito and I like the ever vigilant protector you are. Got it.'

'_And don't do anything-_'

'Stupid or rash, even though neither is something I am prone to doing. Exactly.'

'… … … _Will you please just stop-_'

'Interrupting you? No. Goodbye.'

'_Ass._'

'As always, it's been an _extreme_ pleasure. Now get the hell out my head whilst I still have my sanity intact.'

The fluttery feeling tickling the back of his head disappeared as L felt his mind fall back into place, once again put into a state of stability and calm. The older woman's words still rung in the back of his head, reminding him just how much the dark-eyed man had to lose...

'_You might think you know Raito, L, but it's been a good five years since you've actually spoken to him. He's changed in many ways and, before you presume other wise, the boy you once knew is no longer just a __**boy**__.'_

Relaxing his head against the back of the chair, L waited for his companion to reappear into his life once more, the convoluted relationship which had at one time seemed beyond his grasp, now visible for the taking.

'Just because things are different... doesn't mean that what we had _then _cannot be something we can have _now_.'

And that was something for L to hold onto, if nothing else.

* * *

Raito sighed as he leaned against the tall wooden bookcase behind him, Watari's eyes still burning his retinas as the questions his friend's gaze held lingered in the back of his mind.

There was _definitely_ something fishy going on here that everyone just _didn't_ want him to know about...

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Raito made his way towards the staircase L had been speaking about, the large room towering with level after level of cases filled with nothing but books. The tranquil silence and musty smell of aging leather managed to actually calm him more than it should have as he continued to walk with slow, painstaking steps.

'This is _my_ territory.' The feisty brunette fixed the straps of the knapsack hanging over his shoulders, his eyes gaining a crimson glow to them. 'I have to just calm down and think things through. I _will_ find some answers... even if I have to choke them out of the guy.'

* * *

"Ah… I was beginning to think that Raito-kun had… what is the phrase… _ditched_ me?"

Raito almost laughed as Ryuuzaki pouted (though he was quite sure that the man would say otherwise) behind the large table he sat against, his knees pushed up to his chest in a classic rendition of the same sitting position he had adapted to just last night at the diner.

"Why would I ditch you? I have just as much interest in this as you do." Raito smirked slyly as he sat his book-bag at the other end of the table, which just so happened to be the closest seat to him, and casually sat down within the uncomfortably wooden chair that just never seemed to do his behind any justice. "Quite frankly, I find you _fascinating_."

"I would expect so." Ryuuzaki replied, a small grin of his own sliding across his lips. "Though there seems to be some things in particular that Raito-kun wishes to ask me about."

The anxious brunette nodded as he folded his hands over the table, eyes gleaming with a newfound light.

"First off, I need you to know something about me, that I think you may have already noticed…"

"Yes?"

"… … There's… something _different_ about me."

* * *

L felt his eyebrow raise as the boy tilted his head downward, smoldering cinnamon gaze doused for the time being.

"Different?"

"Don't play games with me. I know you can tell. Everybody else can, anyway." Raito raised his eyes once more, giving L a full view of those set of darkened amber optics that used to be filled with so much emotion. "And it's all because you're different too."

"Even if I was, I don't quite understand what Raito-kun is going with this." L grinned as the teenage student squirmed in his seat, his anger palpitating in waves at L's oblivious act. "I know that I am strange, but it doesn't affect others in the least. I know that Raito-kun is a bit more on the anti-social side, such as myself, but it seems to bother no one but himself. Exactly what do you mean by… _different_?"

'_I mean in the way that I can do this and not need an explanation as to how I can do it to begin with_.'

L felt himself freeze as those now burnt rusted-colored eyes widened ever so slightly, taking even the older man off guard as a stray thumb then pulled itself up to his lips.

'_And the way that I know that you can hear me… even without knowing __**how**__._'

"Well… that would certainly bring up a lot of questions to any decent fellow." L felt the obligatory snark leave his mouth before he could stop it, still in a state of semi-shock.

'He isn't supposed to remember how to do that…' A voice irritatingly whispered in the back of his mind, reminiscent only to his own. 'He isn't supposed to still have any sort of hold on you whatsoever, and here he is, speaking with you as if it were all just yesterday…'

"I look at you, and I don't want to just brush you off like I do everyone else." Raito gently admitted, feeling the most vulnerable he has felt in _years_. "Those things about you… they don't seem all that strange to me as they should. In fact, you're the most normal thing I've encountered in the last two years of my life."

"Two years?"

"Yeah…" Laying his head down on the table, Raito sighed as the crouched man-child leaned forward in his chair, a look of interest passing over those unfathomable eyes. "It's kind of a long story, to tell you the truth."

"I do not mind hearing it." L grinned as he began to chew on his thumb, his sharp canines careful in not accidentally puncturing through his own skin. "I have all the time in the world if Raito-kun needs it."

"Hm…"

* * *

"How do I explain this…?" Raito muttered as Ryuuzaki stared at him with those wide sable-colored eyes, sparks of pewter offsetting them every once in awhile when the other thought that the 17-year-old was too deep in thought to actually be _looking_. "Two years ago, something happened to me that I just can't really put into plain words…"

"Which would be?"

Raito sighed once more, quite sure that he had never a person as impatient and needy as the man sitting across from him.

"Fine. Let's be straight-forward, then. I lost my memories, ok?"

Ryuuzaki blinked for a moment.

"… … What?"

And if Raito had been more of a simpleton, that exclamation would have been a hell of a lot more convincing.

Unfortunately for Ryuuzaki, that was most definitely _not_ the case.

"My life… my family… _everything_. I lost it. I just… couldn't remember. It was so weird…"

"And how did that happen?"

"I can't…"

"Raito-kun?"

A look that even Raito himself couldn't describe crept up on his face as his brow furrowed against his own will, darkening his already upset features even further.

"_I can't remember._"

* * *

_Bleary cinnamon brown eyes opened just a fraction as the sensation of ice cold wind and freezing drops of liquid pelted his body, the rough material of denim and smooth cotton doing little to protect his skin from the onslaught of sensations the outside forces held for the poor boy lying as still as could be within the small patch of field. _

_Mud crawled behind the back of his neck as the teenager groaned to himself, aches emanating from all over his body. Bits of grass clung to his bare arms and tickled the back of his neck along with the disgusting grime, making him itch and squirm uncomfortably. _

"_Ugh…" _

_Hands clenched against the dirt patch beneath them, the falling rain liquefying the muck beneath him to the point where it didn't feel the least bit solid, quite sure that the combination of freezing rain, icy winds and grimy, cold clothes was probably not detrimental to his health. _

'_I should go home…' _

_And with that one thought, eyes shot open, uncaring of the falling water cascading from the skies. A lean golden-skinned hand automatically came up to rest on the right side of the boy's head. _

"_Home…?"_

_The raspy voice was unfamiliar, even to the child, as he steadily lifted himself up, and took a glance around. Blurry trees surrounded his vision as the water clinging to his eyelashes made it difficult to see, the right side of his head pounding with just-noticed pain. A sense of panic flooded the teen's brain as he stumbled onto his feet, face contorting into one of agony. _

"_Where…"_

_Taking a step forward, the young boy mentally went through his interior catalogue, finding __**nothing**__ that could help him on his journey. Allowing the pain to take over once again, the boy's eyes blanked as he continued to follow his own feet, body moving for him on its own will._

_One thought resounded within the boy's head, his eyes blurring even further as the slumped child trudged his way forward, the mud clinging to his body in a sticky array of sludge, twigs and grass._

'_Where is home?' _

* * *

"I remember waking up… barely, anyway… and just thinking about _home_. But I didn't even know where home was." Raito quietly admitted, eyes trained on the man across from him. "It was… like a dream. I made it out of the forest, but I didn't know where I was going. I just kept walking. It was like a chant ringing in my ears… _home… home… home…_Tell me, Ryuuzaki, where do you go when you can't go home?"

L sighed as he let his feet fall to the floor, the childish look of inquisition leaving his face with just a small quirk of his lips.

"I do not know, Raito-kun."

Raito smirked as he rolled his forearm forward and leaned his chin against his open palm.

"Neither did I."

* * *

_Farther and farther the boy went, each step growing easier and easier on his weakened limbs. His body began to cooperate properly as the aches from earlier seemed to all but disappear, the urge to run propelling his inner thoughts. _

_Nothing but blurry green foliage met the boy's gaze as he looked all around him, confused as ever. _

'_Where am I supposed to go?'_

* * *

"Sounds frightening." Ryuuzaki whispered as he stared at Raito with his large unfathomable dark eyes.

"It was." The young student admitted, toying with the hem of his sleeve by habit. "I probably would have kept walking for days if one of my dad's friends hadn't found me."

"Really?"

"… … Yeah."

* * *

"_Wah… __**Raito?!**_"

'_Is that… my name?' The boy thought to himself as a flash of light nearly blinded him, a shrouded figure running towards him as he fell back into the muddy ground below him. _

"_Raito, what happened?! We've been… looking for… you…"_

_A man with a large puff of hair on his head stood above him as he took in the state the boy was in, the child still in his own world as he rubbed his hands on his dirtied jeaned thighs. _

'_Rai-to…'_

"_Is that… my name?" The unfamiliar voice flew from the boy's throat, his head throbbing once more as he took the hand offered. "Rai-to…?" _

"_Oh God…"_

* * *

"I belive that that would have been distressing for anyone. It must have been very difficult for Raito-kun to go through what he did." The dark-haired man shifted uncomfortably as Raito's dark honey eyes glistened at the memory.

"It was." Raito dryly stated, his voice void of all emotion. Grabbing a pen that had been sitting within his pocket, Raito began to twirl between his fingers, trying to ground himself back from his past troubles.

"Though this is all very interesting, I have to wonder why Raito-kun is telling me all this." L felt his throat tighten as the boy's memories (though he was sure Raito did not realize he was doing so) were projected into his mind's eyes. Those feelings of confusion and pain, though distorted, were still all too real for the young child…

And for L as well.

"You know something about me. I can see it in your eyes. As much as you say otherwise, you know what I'm talking about. This… thing that's pulling us together… I want to know what it is. I look at you, and I feel like I'm whole." Raito leaned against the table, his arm falling off to the side as the familiar crimson glow of his narrowed-eyed gaze echoed alongside the distant melancholy of his statuesque features. "There's something about you that I just can't let go… Why won't you leave my head alone?"

L felt his glassy gaze narrow as shards of bluish-silver unknowingly clashed against the ebony black of his eyes, pale skin becoming all the paler against the warm brown of the cushions encasing him within the chair.

'Can't stay here… nothing, _nothing_ is going according to plan! He's not… supposed remember how to do any of this…'

"There are things at work here, Raito, that you may think you wish to know more about…" L felt himself get up as a whirlwind of _emotions_ and _thoughts_ and _images _flooded through his head, unsettling him far more than the questions themselves. "But I will be frank. _You don't_."

"But-"

"Will look at what we have here!"

* * *

"Gah!"

Raito's arms flailed as he fell back, a pair of familiar cerulean eyes twinkling above his now sprawled out form. Watari laughed with true amusement as the unintimidating man-boy glared up at him with those familiar cherry amber eyes he knew so well.

"How dreadfully cruel of me to sneak up on you like that, Raito! But seeing you sit there so adorably, all preoccupied and business-like… I just could not resist temptation at her finest." Watari laughed as he ruffled his ward's hair, watching him fight with the chair beneath him so that he could get up with at least a bit of dignity still intact. "Now, who is this fine fellow you still haven't introduced me to? You know your father would murder me if I wasn't keeping track of his one and only son to the best of my ability."

"I'm sure you couldn't just _wait _barge in, huh?" The teen replied dryly, not noticing the small questioning glance Ryuuzaki shot at Watari's direction as the old man simply shrugged, throwing his own shake of the head as if to silence the still sitting 'stranger' at the other side of the table. "Uh… Ryuuzaki, this is Watari, the librarian, and basically, guy in charge of this cruddy place."

"Lovely intro, Raito."

"I try."

Finally fixing his chair, Raito barely had any time to prepare himself before Watari grabbed a chair beside his own and sat himself down, grin still fixed on his face as Ryuuzaki shifted uncomfortably at the other end of the table.

"So…"

"…"

"Uh…"

"Is there anything I can help you with, Watari-san?" Ryuuzaki bluntly questioned, still chewing on his thumb as he switched his gaze from Raito to the elderly man dressed in slacks, collar shirt and navy-blue _sweater vest_ of all things.

How do you take someone dressed like a sissy-man that seriously?

"What your intentions with Raito-kun are would be a nice start."

'And once again Watari has proven that you can dress like a nerd and still be intimidating as all hell.' Raito sweat dropped, wondering if the atmosphere could get any thicker.

And if that wasn't enough, the old man was _still_ smiling, as if to top it all off.

As the nervous brunette dug into his pocket and pulled out the pen residing there, once again reverting back to his age-old habit of twirling it between his fingers when things became much too tense, Raito unknowingly missed the well-timed glare Ryuuzaki sent at Watari's direction as he ducked his head down and coughed.

"I believe that my intentions are laid out on the table, so to speak."

Raito felt his face flush as Ryuuzaki grinned, the smile all too mischievous for his tastes.

"Ryuuzaki…"

"He is not your parent, Raito-kun." Dark eyes danced as the older man's annoyance danced around them in waves. "I do not have to explain myself to him."

"You may think that way, Ryuuzaki, but that doesn't mean that I do as well." Raito snapped, leaning towards his older friend in way that could only be described as defensive. "Watari is an old friend of mine, and I would appreciate it if you treated him with the respect he clearly deserves."

As Raito said this, an irrational emotion seemed to fill the small corridor (_how Raito could feel this, he could never explain_), making the air around the man on the other side of the table… _crackle_?

Now Raito _knew _he was seeing things.

"I see… then I apologize, Watari-san. I am simply attempting to befriend Raito-kun, and nothing more." Leaning forward so that Raito's gaze was trapped between his and his alone, Ryuuzaki's dead stare irked the 17-year-old more than he was willing to admit. "I fear that I must go now, Raito-kun, but I will meet you here at your usual departing time. Do not leave without me. I will speak with you more then."

Without another word, L jumped off his cushy chair and disappeared behind the large staircase behind them, leaving the confused 17-year-old with his own thoughts.

"Watari…"

"Yes Raito-kun?"

"… … Why is it that I'm surrounded by nothing but crazy people who seem to love to confuse the crap out of me?"

"That… is a good question." Watari fixed his glasses as Raito gave him a wide-eyed glance, chestnut locks falling over his eyes as the older of the two attempted to reign in his stifled chuckles behind a half-hearted cough. "It's too bad I do not have the answer to go with it."

Raito groaned as he let his head fall to the table, quite sure he was going to have a large red spot on his forehead later.

'Goodie.'

* * *

"This will work!"

"And how can you prove this? He's already failed once…"

"I…"

"What is it exactly that you are trying to prove by doing this, my dear?"

The elderly man dressed in rich red robes sighed as the young woman in front of him flinched, her molten amber eyes narrowing in near anger. Relaxing within his plush seat, the man snapped his fingers, the fireplace next to him coming to life in a roar of blazing flames. The entire room dripped with opulence as the leather-clad woman in front of the apparent nobleman glared at the man in front of her with a ferocity that many others would cower at.

"I don't have to answer to you. You are neither my father, nor my mother, so any answers you think are necessary to 'explain' my actions as of late are unnecessary. I do not need to justify myself for your own sake, nor for the counsel's... _sir_."

"The counsel won't feel the same way once I've explained the situation to them. And your mother and father… how do you think they will feel once they find out their only grandson is actually _still living_." The man then laughed, his beard trembling against his chin as the raspy chuckles cut through the air rather uncomfortably. "If only partially, of course."

Gritting her teeth, short ebony locks fell over the young woman's shoulders as she bent her head forward, cracks of crimson invading her irises in a series of angry streaks.

"Is this your way of blackmailing me? Because if it is…"

Bright red eyes met the other's stale gray gaze as the woman straightened her posture and met the older man's vision head on.

"I am not someone you wish to have as an enemy, Akio-san."

A small smile was the old man's only response as he sat back into his chair, charcoal gray eyes glittering with both amusement and glee. The woman gave one last huff before exiting the other's chambers, plans already floating within her head as she pulled her leather trench-coat closer to her person, barely feeling the now cold draft wafting around her.

"_And neither am I, my dearest… __**Neither am I**__."_

* * *

"So… that's what awkward silence is supposed to sound like." Raito muttered, dropping his book-bag by his bedroom door, having bypassed his father in a swift close of a door and well-placed teen 'I don't want to talk right now!' glare.

Ryuuzaki had picked him up, just as planned (though the question why Raito had even waited for him still bugged him more than he wished to own up to), though instead of talking to him about before (about _anything, _really) like he said he was going to, he remained as silent as can be. Raito had, for once, not known what to do, so he had simply caught up with the other man's rapid steps and allowed him to escort him home, blinking as his companion just about disappeared before he could get past the gates of his home.

'Stupid mysterious weirdo's and their love of leaving me _befuddled_…'

Taking off his shirt and jeans, Raito slipped on some pajama pants and jumped into bed, too emotionally exhausted to go through his usual nightly maintenance routine. Grabbing the notebook that hung off his night-table, Raito turned to the marked page and began reading once again, not too tired to give up _this _part, anyway…

* * *

_**Whoo... hopefully the last page didn't throw you off, or anything. I think my hormones were throwing me out of whack. **_

_**But you didn't hear me say that, got it? **_

_**Good. **_

_**Now, what was I gonna say? Damn… Something about your dad… Oh! Yeah!**_

_**Your dad's an idiot. Though you live with him as well, so I'm sure you know what I mean. But I meant an emotional idiot this time, and not just a… normal idiot… though I don't contest to him being that as well. He's just pushed me over the edge one time too many today. **_

_**So what if I love to cuddle you and tell you about your heritage! You deserve to know about where you come from in terms of my side of the family! It's bad enough that I have to restrict my family's visits now, but I can't just shut out who I am, and who you might become. I look at you, and you remind me of what I'm both trying to protect you from…**_

_**And what you might turn into yourself. **_

_**But you don't understand yet, do you?**_

_**Especially… especially if I'm not there…**_

_**You deserve so much, Raito. **_

_**It's just too bad I wasn't able to give it all to you.**_

_**Maybe one day… one day soon… someone else may be able to give you everything I couldn't.**_

_**Right?**_

_**Well, until tomorrow night, my little ray of light. **_

_**Goodnight.**_

* * *

Feeling his eyes shut on their own accord, Raito shut the journal and threw it on the night-table once more, questions floating about in his head at an even more manic pace than before.

'What… what is it that everyone seems to know but _me_?'

Settling himself into the bed, Raito sighed as he closed his eyes and allowed his body the rest it deserved…

Tomorrow was another day, after all.

* * *

Short dark hair obscured the lithe woman's vision as she stared down at the teenager lying within the small bedroom, the window behind her open as the wind billowed around the two still figures, one frozen in their position by the window as the other rested fitfully within their cozy bed, in a gentle succession of invisible waves.

Her usual leather coat hung off her arm as her blood red peasant top and skin tight jeans emphasized her thin nature, the heeled boots making a small tapping noise as she quietly took a couple steps towards the large mattress sitting in the middle of the small roomy bedroom.

"I've waited so long… these passing years have felt like centuries in comparison to so many others." A small rounded cherry amber pendant encased in what looked to be silver shone brilliantly against the night's beams of light radiating from half-moon hanging within the sky. "And with things changing as quickly as they are, it's not a moment too soon. We all have much to worry about… you most of all, Raito. But I will be here, by your side, along with those who truly care for you."

Opening the small notebook sitting on top of the nightstand, dark amber eyes blinked as a familiar page came into view, the now mostly empty page filled with a small bit of writing at the center of it, tiny and neat, much like the person who had originally written within the journal.

Eyes quickly scanning the page, the woman nearly dropped the leather-bound book as she felt tears sting her now dark crimson orbs rather foolishly.

* * *

_Wherever you are, I miss you…_

_Even if I can't remember you._

* * *

Placing the notebook back upon the nightstand, the woman gave the boy one small kiss on the forehead, watching as a small smile spread across his own lips in sleep. A swell of happiness she had not felt in _years_ welled up in the woman's chest as she hesitantly backed away from the teen, making her way towards the open window just behind her.

"Soon, Raito… you won't have to worry about forgetting ever again. Your memories _will_ be yours to keep."

Hand holding onto the rim of the windowpane, the eternally youthful face glazed over with newfound happiness shimmered with radiating bliss as they gave the teenage student one last glance before stepping onto the ledge…

"_I promise_."

And falling once again.

* * *


	7. Bleeding in a Blur

A.N: Hey! Yeah, you! Reader! Guess what, guess what?

The action starts here, baby. Oh _yeah_. Giggidy, giggidy. (I need to stop watching so much Family Guy. O.O)

You see, my dear reader, this story is about to get to it's core premise, and I couldn't be more excited. Enough of the slow crap, let's get to the meat of the story!

And as you read this next chapter... no pun intended. XD Think this was going to be all romance, conversation and strung-out plot-lines? Uh... did you see the genre? Supernatural, my honey-bunches-of-oats. Action/Adventure have to be included by _default_. Yeah... So, tell me what you think of this chapter as things are beginning to be fully revealed and everyone's true natures and identities are being forced out of the shadows...

Now _that's_ what I'm _talking_ _about_. ^.^ Many thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing this for me so super fast! Lucky, fantabulous girl, you! Hope you have fun in preparing for what's ahead! XD

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Six: _Bleeding in a Blur_

* * *

"Well, _that_was enlightening." L snapped as he opened the door, eyes crackling a sharp ice-blue as Watari waved at him from the kitchen table.

"Oh, do stop sulking L." The old man took a sip of his coffee, ignoring the sudden pulse of power snapping within the air. "You're already enough of a child as it is, no need to add anything more to _that _already off-putting figure of speech by even _looking_ the part."

L nearly snarled as he slammed the door behind him, the dim kitchen's only source of light hanging above the table glittering obstinately against the ominous darkness of the room. Bleach white light illuminated the older man nearly bursting from the seams in silent laughter as L himself continued to pout.

"Thank you so very much for the warning, by the way. You did _not_ tell me that you would be coincidentally popping by and giving me the third degree." L angrily muttered as he walked past the chuckling librarian, the bemused look on the other's aging face not amusing L in the least. "As if I weren't under enough pressure as it was…"

"L, you know that that boy is as much my responsibility as he is yours." Watari rubbed his eyes as he plucked his glasses off of the bridge of his nose, wondering if he would be able to hold onto his bubbling laughter while still maintaining some semblance of serious conversation with the pasty-skinned man. "As much as you try to protect him yourself, you know it's simply not enough. Besides all that, out of all the people in his life, he now trusts me the most. How would you _expect _me to react?"

"Like you knew better than interfere?" Came the unwelcome sarcastic reply, making Watari tremble in agitation.

"L." Was all Watari said as he gave the man his patented even stare, milky white mustache twitching at the edges.

"That was uncalled for." Instead of apologizing, L bit his thumb as he bounced on the heels of sneaker-clad feet, itching to do something _more _than just stand around and _conversate _of all things. "There is something bothering me."

"I wouldn't expect anything differently, L." Watari gave the slouched male a sympathetic face as he reached forward, his coffee gone cold from the amount of time spent _not _drinking it. "It is a lot to take in at once, and you are both starting from the beginning. I suppose it's worse now knowing just what it was you lost, and having tasted it once before. Frustrating, even."

"It's not… it's not that. Nothing went according to our plan _at all_." A flash of disappointment crossed L's face. "I wasn't… able to speak with him about a possible relationship, or speak of any possible _promises_… but he did tell me about his memory-loss."

"L…"

"I know you will tell me that I did the right thing. It's what you do, Watari, even now." A small wry grin escaped the younger-looking man's gaunt face as he sloppily leaned against the dull gray wall behind him. "He's beginning to regain his own memories without any inclusion on my part, and my meeting him seems to have accelerated the process. I fear, my dear friend, that I may have made a mistake in confronting him once more."

"What?" All laughter ceased in a second's time as the grim look crossing L's visage became much more darker against the dying light of the night sky, ebony fringe falling down over his eyes as he slouched further within himself. "That's impossible. The two of you couldn't stay away from each other even if you tried… _And you did_!"

"I thought so as well…" Slipping off his sneakers by the dark chestnut-colored wooden door, the ebony-eyed nocturne sighed as he raked a hand through his messy dark locks, pale skin amplified by the darkness of the kitchen. "But apparently we may have both thought wrong."

"I'm sure that it's just small lapses. Nothing you can't blank out yourself, yes?" L shook his head as Watari almost dropped his coffee cup on the table, his sympathetic gaze hurting the youthful-looking nocturne more than necessary.

"… … I wish it were that simple." Scratching his bare right foot against his jeaned left ankle, L rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling, a small tilt of his lips the only sign of disturbance on his face. "… … Perhaps it is time to admit that she was right all along. Though I don't expect you to say anything of the like to her, Watari. She'll never let me live it down if you do."

"Oh really?"

"Even I know when to fold my hand, Quillsh. And as much as I would like to say other wise, in this instance…" A wry grin over came L's face as he shoved his hands within his denim-coated pockets, dark eyes alight with streaks of silver. "Those precious memories of his were never mine to really take, were they?"

"I will concede on the fact that a little notice on your part would have been better off for the both of you, but you did what you thought you needed to do." Sipping his cold coffee, the white-haired man grimaced as the stale taste bit at his taste-buds. How he could stomach this sludge, was beyond even Watari. "Even if you would have warned him, the outcome would have been the same. There is nothing to feel guilty for, L."

"No, you're wrong on the former, Watari. I did what I _wanted_ to do; no, what was _easiest _to do. At first, I didn't want to admit it, but…" Walking past the old man, L grabbed the railing of the winding staircase leading up to their rooms, jumping up a stair as Watari's gaze stayed on his lithe form. "Now I know what she meant that night, so long ago, when all I was doing was thinking of myself instead of thinking of the boy whom looked up to me for protection…"

Waving over his shoulder, L whispered the last part of the sentence to himself, hoping that its impact would be a little less great if he were the only one to hear it.

"I never _really_ did it for Raito's sake at all."

And honestly, it didn't help ease his still throbbing conscious in the least.

"Perhaps Raito would be better off without me, after all…"

* * *

Raito sighed as he leaned his head against the stony ledge of the library's stairs, the unseasonable warm air swirling around him in a haze of comfort. Tracing the lines of the carved rock sitting beneath his feet, the young boy allowed himself the moment of silence for what it was and let his thoughts drift along with the small amount of wind flirting alongside the autumn night.

For three weeks, this had become routine for Raito. He barely saw Ryuuzaki anymore, except when he was going home, and even then, the normally quiet man was like a mime, staying as silent as can be. At first, it frustrated the teen to near tantrums, blowing up in the middle of streets as the older slumping man would just stare at him with blank eyes. But now…

Now, Raito was just used to it.

'Patience… patience is the key…'

Though patience was something Raito had very little of, thank you very much.

Grabbing the small smooth stone that sat next to his foot, Raito rubbed at its surface, mind succumbing deep into thought as the air around him began to lower in temperature at a rapid rate.

'How long are you going to keep avoiding me, Ryuuzaki?'

Thinking back on his last tantrum a few nights ago, Raito sighed as leaned his head against the stair's railing.

'I can't keep doing this if you're just going to push me away, Ryuuzaki…'

* * *

"_That's it! I've had enough of your stupid silent treatment and your dumb little kid antics!" Raito exploded once more, sick and tired of Ryuuzaki's almost three week silence and not willing to take it anymore. Unexpectedly jumping in front of the older man from behind, Raito grabbed the man's shoulder, the other's lowered collar leaving just enough skin to be exposed to Raito's bare touch. _

_The young brunette almost flinched away as the freezing skin held beneath his touch shuddered at the equally ferocious heated hand now grasping at its slender shoulder and collar bone._

_His anger swiftly evaporated as Raito could only think about how the pale, almost bluish-white in tint, skin felt beneath his fingers, those murky eyes looking past his gaze and into a distance of nothingness that seemed to capture him completely…_

"_You're so…"The whisper left Raito's mouth without him realizing it, chocolate brown eyes melting into a light crimson as those obsidian orbs froze, that recognizable ring of silvery-blue enveloping the other man's irises once again. "__**Cold**__."_

_In a snap, Ryuuzaki's eyes disappeared from sight as Raito felt himself be pushed back, feet stumbling against the cement of the sidewalk beneath them. _

"_Don't… __**touch**__me." Ryuuzaki whispered before tucking in his head against his shoulders, his unkempt shag of sable-colored hair falling forward as the obnoxious sound of stomping feet slapped at the cement sidewalk. "Keep up the pace, Raito-kun. We have to get you home before it gets too dark." _

'_Why?' Raito wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut as he continued to walk, his gaze attached directly to his hand. Silence once again descended on the two young men, Ryuuzaki shoving his cold (freezing, really) smooth white hands back into his pockets. _

'_That cold… why did it feel so familiar to me?' _

* * *

White frosty puffs of air clouded Raito's vision as he blinked, coming back to reality after a momentary lapse within his daydreams and thoughts. Shivering intensely as the cool night air wrapped its translucent arms across his weary body, Raito stood up and shrugged his backpack into place.

'I can't keep waiting for life to lead me on the right track… and you can't expect me to keep on waiting, Ryuuzaki.'

Taking the first step forward down the small flight of steps, Raito ignored the ominous shiver crawling down his back, the feeling of worriment digging deep within his spine. The wind continued to swirl around the young teen as he closed his eyes and let his feet begin their journey back home.

'_Tonight is the night_… _where everything finally changes_.'

* * *

"Hm…"

Dark eyes scanned the vacant library, finding nothing but empty tables and unnerving silence. Shoving his hands within his pockets, L drug his sneaker-clad feet across the carpeted floor and closed his eyes.

Sensing something wholly unnatural stretch out within him, the vast emptiness L was used to feeling dispersed. Touching upon every living thing within his vicinity, the dark-haired nightwalker searched for his brunette companion in vain.

'_Raito_…' L called out in his mind, hoping for contact of any kind. '_Please… Come to me…_'

"Please."

* * *

'_Raito… Please… **C**__**ome to me**__…_'

Hands clenched at his chest as Raito breathed in heavily, stumbling against the rough ridges of the sidewalk as he attempted to catch his breath. Heart beating harshly within his chest, the words within his mind (_In his mind, not out loud, just like before when he had been speaking with Ryuuzaki!_) reverberating with such strength, they even took Raito off-guard.

'It's nothing but coincidence… nothing… nothing at all…'

Ignoring the passing words still tinkling in his ears, Raito continued back on his path, shadows dancing at his heels as one by one, lights of all kinds began to flicker at his passing. Blinking within the fading darkness, Raito increased his steps…

Until he heard it.

And his heart began to beat all the faster.

* * *

"L? Is something the matter?" Watari sighed as he walked up behind the younger-looking man whom stood dead still, his eyes still closed. "L…?"

"Where is Raito, Watari?" The whisper came haltingly, barely breaking the silence of the empty library and its corridors of full bookshelves.

"Well, the last I saw of him was about fifteen minutes ago, just before you arrived. He was waiting outside for you on the steps, as per usual." The worried expression on Watari's face went unnoticed as L's eyes stayed shut, his own visage screwing up into one of frustration. "L, what's going on?"

Slowly opening his eyes, sharp icy blue orbs made the old man uncomfortably aware of the tensing atmosphere around the large foyer.

The words, almost unheard under the whisper of silence, snaked through the air, grabbing Watari's heart by its strings and wrenching it painfully.

"_I don't know_."

* * *

The shrill sounds of shrieks overcame his ears as the brunette student felt his heart stop in a moment's notice. Letting his feet take flight, the young teen began to run down the sidewalk, feeling his heart, which had already been palpitating painfully within his chest, all but stop completely as the screams began to grow louder and louder with each step he took.

Raito felt his blood thrumming beneath his skin, rushing hot and fast as his legs moved on their own accord. The feel of harsh icy cold air stung at his cheeks as the cries became all the more shrilly, clashing horribly against the quiet of the night.

'How is anyone not _hearing _this?!' The boy thought to himself, the lights now fluttering erratically the closer he became to the central source of unearthly screeches. A small alleyway tucked in between a small repair shop and a dollar store caught Raito's eye as the noise became just about unbearable, eyes bleeding a pale blood red at the sound.

Clutching at his ears, a glistening sensation began to prick at the withering teen's ever-changing orbs as his feet stumbled over each other. The screams rattled his insides, bringing back a near-forgetful memory of… _fear_ he could not understand.

'_Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, makeitstop,makeitstop,makeitstop-MAKE IT STOP!'_

Splintering sounds of glass breaking broke off the screams as windows burst into crystal shards, Raito falling to his knees as he stood in front of the alley…

And nearly fainted at the scene that greeted him.

* * *

"I have to go." L spun around as panic (_not his own, but the familiar feeling of someone else's…_) pumped through his veins, eyes sharpening as the pupils within them began to contract. "Something's… something's not right with Raito."

"Well, what are you waiting for-" Watari rushed the man-child out of the foyer and towards the doors, barely putting in any strength as L flashed forward with inhuman speed. "GO!"

L pushed the glass doors open as a voice began to whisper into his ear…

'_**Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, makeitstop,makeitstop,makeitstop-MAKE IT STOP!**__'_

Feeling the rush of cold wind hit his bare face, L barely felt the ground beneath his feet as he pulled himself onward.

'_Raito_, _hold on… I'm coming!_'

Hoping that his message went through, L ignored the feeling of terror creeping up within the back of his mind as the streets around him became a blur.

God help the person who _dared_hurt his Raito.

* * *

A man (_or what __**looked **__like a man…_) stood against the back wall of the dim alley, the entirety of his front concealed as he held onto a woman who lain uselessly in his arms. The color red (_blood, blood, it has to be __**blood**_) was stained _everywhere_ as the… _thing_ before the teen laid his head against the poor woman's neck, gulping down frantically as his mouth and teeth pierced through her skin. Vicious marks and scratches were prominent against the woman's pale skin as more of the red (_blood, why won't it stop-There's just so much __**blood**__!_) continued to pour down the woman's collarbone and sliced flesh.

Vacant blue eyes and stringy blonde hair met the boy's now cinnamon-brown colored eyes as he trembled in something close to fear, watching as her arm hung limply over the other _person's_ embrace, completely shattered as bones broke through the skin, covered completely in red (_blood, oh god, she's covered in __**blood**_) as well.

'I should run, I should scream, I should call for help…'

Thoughts streamed through his mind, yet Raito could not get his feet to move. His eyes stayed trained at the corpse being manhandled in front of him, torn clothes, broken bones and red (_blood, damn it, why the hell is there so much damn __**blood**__?!_) hypnotizing him, pulling the frightened teen into an unmistakable trance.

Finally coming to his senses, Raito carefully took a step back-

Only to freeze once again as the monster came face to face with him in a blink of an eye with speed Raito had only seen _in one other person_. Ridges of skin (_not quite human… this __**thing**__ isn't human!_) ran across the thing's forehead as glowing golden eyes narrowed in recognition (_recognizing what, Raito did not know_). Savagely growling in what looked to be anger and panic, Raito barely had any time to react before something collided with his windpipe and tossed him to the other side of the alley, where the ragged corpse of the woman whom he had been so desperate in trying to save lay beside him in a heap. His head pounded painfully as the sharp pain of something tearing overtook him, Raito shivering at the feel of warm liquid slowly pouring down his head.

A strange power held him in place as the monster (_there was a word for what he was, but Raito just could __**not**__ think of what it could be_) paced forward, drool and red (_more blood and more blood and just more __**blood**_) droplets of _unnamed_ fluid clung to thin lips and sharp, _sharp_ teeth rather disgustingly.

"_You… it can't be._" The monster growled, his face becoming all the more grotesque as he snarled, the vestiges of a business suit (_Suit? What the hell?!_) hung off the grimy thing's body, completely stained in red (_blood… Raito __**hated blood**_). "_You're supposed to be DEAD!_"

Feeling the sticky slippery feel of once warm liquid beneath his hands, Raito barely had time to register the panic within the monster's eyes before a pair of cold, razor-nailed hands grabbed his throat…

And _pushed._

* * *

"He's fading from me, and I don't know why." The young woman whispered, sitting by the familiar window of the somewhat spacious bedroom.

"What do you mean?" The tall dark-haired bespectacled man whispered as he entered his son's room, staring at the short-haired woman as he sat down beside her. "Is it… is he…?"

"I don't know. L should be with him soon, so I think he will be fine, but…" Short locks obscured the woman's vision as she grabbed the man's hand. "Soichirou, soon, you won't be able to hide the truth from him. He will find out, and… he will resent you for this, just as much as he will resent both L and I."

"I know." Soichirou plucked off his glasses, and rubbed adamantly at the clean glass with the bottom of his shirt. "I did what I had to do to give him a normal life, but it's obvious I was doomed to fail from the start. Once he finds out that you've been here all along, he'll go running to you, just like he always used to as a child."

"Why can't we make this work, Soichirou? Why are you so adamant that we can't be together?" The woman cried out, feeling her eyes sting with newfound tears. "I love you and Raito… if you trusted me-"

"We already tried it your way, and your… _family _gave us hell. Raito would have never had a chance for a normal life, and the choice would've been out of his hands." Soichirou replied without hesitation. "How can you blame this on me when you did nothing to stop this impending war yourself?"

"It's much more… _complicated _than that, Soichirou."

"Well, when you have the gall to actually show him your face, then you can explain to _him _just how complex it was." The aging man snapped as he slipped his hand free of the other person's grip. "I was willing to face the fires of hell for you… yet both L and yourself proved to me that the feeling wasn't reciprocated when it came to Raito and myself. Our son should not have to go through the same pain I did when you left me, Sachiko."

Blurry red eyes closed as the man walked out of the room, not once looking back as the ever-youthful woman lied back on their son's bed.

'Why can't we ever be free?'

* * *

There were many things Raito did not remember, and a part of him was glad for it.

If you didn't remember it, then you couldn't miss it…

Right?

There were days that Raito himself felt like a stranger inside his own body. Hell, even his own life felt like a lie, on the best of days. His father couldn't seem to relate nor connect with him, Watari always seemed to stare at him with a sort of wistfulness on his face, making Raito feel as if there was something _he _was doing wrong, and the people around town always made him feel so… _standoffish_.

There was nothing familiar for him to hold onto… except, maybe Ryuuzaki.

Yet even then, that was more of an empty nostalgia, if nothing else.

But this emotion that controlled his body now, tearing at his throat, (_which was at the moment being manhandled viciously by some… __**thing**__ he could not truly envision_) and shooting up his legs, torso, arms and head; this wonderful rush of _pain _that had been by Raito's side from the beginning of his search those painful two years back?

That was as familiar to Raito as a phantom mother's caress.

As those rough calloused hands crushed his esophagus, razor-like talons digging into his skin as rivulets of red ran down his throat and collarbone, Raito could even say it almost felt comforting in a way.

The former sense of panic that had crossed the deformed man's eyes vanished as he pushed Raito even further against the jagged wall, hands tightening in their grasp as the squeaking of bones threatening to break under his touch brought such _satisfaction _to his eyes and face.

Small starbursts of white light exploded over the boy's vision as it dimmed around the edges, spaces of black rounding as small gasps of strangled breath escaped Raito's lips.

People who had near-death experiences always said that when you were about to die, much often, your life flashed across your eyes. But Raito didn't have any memories worth remembering, nor did he have a past to reminisce about. So as the darkness overcame his vision, all Raito could _really _think was…

'_So this is what it's like to die._'

* * *

"_Do you think it hurts?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_You know… to… __**die**__."_

"… … … _Is this some kind of joke, Raito?" _

"_No! I don't mean… gragh! Why am I trying to explain this! You know what I mean! I mean really, __**really**__ die, you nitwit!" _

"_How charming of you to ask such a sensitive question." _

"_Well, let's just go by __**your **__so-called experiences and go from there." _

"_You're so wonderful to me, Raito. How could I have asked for a better friend?" _

"_I know. I ask that sometimes too. I mean, how __**do **__you handle this awesomeness?" _

"_Can I answer that question instead?"_

"_No."_

"_Raito, please… this is such a morbid conversation. Why do you wish to know, anyway?"_

"_Maybe it's because… I don't know. I'm just weird, L."_

"_I like to know what Raito is thinking, even when other's would consider it to be strange. Tell me, Raito… please? _

"… … _I would just like to know what to expect, is all." _

"_Raito will __**never**__ experience death, so he should not have to wonder." _

"_Heh, says who?"_

"… … _As long as I am still around Raito, you will be safe from death's embrace."_

"_L…"_

"_Now, let us speak of something else… like Watari's growing bald spot."_

"_L! HONESTLY! Stop it!"_

"_Stop what?"_

* * *

"RAITO!"

For a couple of seconds, Raito felt his sight return to him as icy-blue invaded his dying vision, gasps of air slowing down at a rapid rate. All Raito wanted to do was close his eyes and end it there (_was there even anything worth waiting for, anymore?_), but the cool rush of adrenaline flooded through him, refusing to give him a moment's more of peace.

Fingers were viciously pulled off of his neck, leaving long gauging scratches down his throat and now exposed collarbone as the sweet taste of air entered his lungs once more. Grabbing his neck, Raito slid down the wall behind him as his eyes slowly pulled away from the scene in front of him and stared at the cadaver beside him, eyes still vacant as death pulled him into its dutiful spell.

* * *

"_You're existence is no longer necessary in this world, Yagami Raito."_

"_Wh-what…?"_

"_Death isn't so bad… once you find your niche. Maybe you'll even meet up with those… 'Shinigami' we hear so much about, huh?"_

"_I don't… want to…"_

"_The blood running through your veins won't hold out forever. Let's see your little protector find you here, __**lover**__."_

"_Please…"_

"_Damn half-breeds like you don't deserve the gift of **life**. All of you deserve nothing more than __**what we've given you tonight**__."_

'_L… what's happening to me? Why can't I… move?'_

"_Save me… L…"_

* * *

"You… bastard…" L growled out, sparks of electricity crackling around him, his own canines lengthening as his face slowly became to distort itself as well. Crouching forward, another animalistic growl escaped the angered man's lips in a parody of frustration. "What have you done?! You may have just ruined everything I have been working to restore!"

"Does it really matter? Once the counsel finds out that both you and our little golden princess have been keeping his existence a secret, they'll demand to see him in their courts." Striding forward, the man-beast ran a bloodied hand through his greasy dark locks, sarcastic smirk angering L more than anything else. "I'm guessing you locked him out from his memories, since he didn't even _remember_ my gorgeous face when he saw me. Have you told him just _what _an abomination he is, or are you waiting until the answer is staring at him _right in the face_?"

Before L could say anything else, a sudden gasp erupted from behind them, alerting the two of just _who _was listening in.

"Wha-_what_?!" Raito cried out, looking small and pale against the painted red surrounding him, his fear overwhelmed only by his disbelief.

Just as L leaned forward, sticking his hand out in a pacifying motion, a hand struck out and smashed against his jaw, throwing him backwards with ruthless force. Ignoring the dark red liquid now pouring down from the corner of his mouth, L placed both hands down on the ground and snarled.

"What do you say," The man-like creature chuckled as he strode forward, eyes gleaming against the dim light of the night. "We show little Raito here just _what _we're made of, hm?"

L spit out the blood building up in his mouth as he stared at Raito, his face now only a shadow of its original self.

'_**Don't be afraid… I'll protect you till the end**._'

Raito slowly nodded as the voice whispered much-needed comfort into his ear, bringing up his knees to his chest as he watched L slowly smirk. A fluttering shift of light hit the alleyway as two slim forms rushed forward against each other, a whisper of a word echoing through out the night.

"_Go!_"

* * *


	8. Through the Truth Unveiled

A.N: Hi-ho, everybody!

... ... Wow, that was corny. -.-; Let's just ignore that first part, shall we? Any-ways, I've finally come back with some OLG-goodness, and might I say that this may be my best chapter yet? Oh, and next chapter isn't looking too bad either! XD I guess this is in honor of (*cough*) recent DVD release. ^.^ If you've seen it, you'll recognize a bit of dialogue from a rather par-_tic_-ular scene in this chapter. You might ask yourself how such a mediocre movie with an unnatural following inspired this story.

Well, don't. I know my brain would implode too. *Risks the worry of being mobbed by rabid (*cough*) fans*

Many thank-you's and glitter-filled plushies to Kitsune55 for beta-ing this chapter! Yaysies. ^.^

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Seven: _Through the Truth Unveiled_

* * *

The feeling of adrenaline pumping through his semi-decayed system…

The full force of power rushing through his lithe limbs…

Unleashing the _being_ inside of him that he had kept back for nearly two long torturous years…

_This_ is what L had been waiting for.

It had been too long since he had last felt his way…

Ducking past the fist aimed for his head, L grabbed the arm beside him and twisted it at an unorthodox angle, the crushing sound of decomposing bone crackling within the night air. The cold splatter of blood speckled his face and shirt as he lunged forward and aimed a hard kick at the other's abdomen, throwing him halfway across the dark alleyway.

Spittingout the small amount of blood clinging to his sharpened teeth and tongue, the man began to laugh as he crouched up on his hands and knees, eyes darting between L and Raito. The skittish brunette began to shiver as those yellow-gold eyes focused entirely on him, disregarding L completely…

Voices began to simmer in the young boy's ear as L leaned one foot back, only to dart forward. A swirl of wind rushed past the two fighting, though fists were ducked and hits missed, the other man's eyes stayed on Raito, altogether focused on one thing, and one thingonly.

_His mind_.

* * *

'_**Look at me.**_'

A voice tickled Raito's ears as he blocked them with cold hands and leaned his head against his knees.

This was not the stoic voice he had become used to hearing at random intervals for the past three weeks…

'_**Don't you want to know the truth about what you are?**_'

_This _was the voice of _deception_.

'_**I can give you all the answers you need, Raito.**_'

'It just has to be…' Raito whispered to himself within the sanctity of his own mind, lamenting his lack of privacy within his only remaining sanctuary. 'Ryuuzaki… he'll tell me what's going on… he won't leave me in the dark… but until then-'

'_**He's lying to you about everything that you are…**_'

'_LEAVE… ME… __**ALONE**__!_' Raito shouted as loudly as he could within his own mind, feelingsomething snap within him as a swirl of luminous air lashed out at the leeringmonster, making him stumble back as he flinched in pain.

Ryuuzaki caught onto the flash of clumsiness and spun on his heel, landinganother fist to the horrific being's face before a barrage of kicks were thrown at the monster's stomach. More crimson slashes of blood flew through the air in a moving painting of macabre colors, streaking brightly against the dark backdrop of broken navy-blue brick and dim city streets.

Eyes nearly as light and clear as the whites of his eyes, Ryuuzaki did not notice as Raito stifled a small exclamation of sound at the vicious display.

'Ryuuzaki…'

As soon as Raito thought his name, the man turned to glance at him, his now red-stained face only a shady reminder of just _who_was hiding underneath the grime and elongated teeth hanging off the edges of pasty male's lips. Dark hair hung over the older man's face as he turned to Raito, a small bit of remorse sparkling behind Ryuuzaki's darkening eyes.

"Raito…" The voice, though gravelly, was still the same comforting stoic baritone as his friends, leaving no doubt in Raito's mind that this _thing_standing in front of him was no less Ryuuzaki than the man that had been with him just yesterday night.

Through the cloud of fear, disbelief and confusion fogging his thoughts, Raitobegan to unfurl himself from his corner, scuttling a bit away from the dead body beside him. Yet as Raitofelt his way upward, a darkened silhouette rising over Ryuuzaki's shoulder made him stumble unceremoniously back onto the ground.

"RYUUZAKI, LOOK OUT!"

* * *

At the sudden screech made his way, L attempted to turn around, but realized it was an attempt made in vain as a hand grabbed onto his hair and pulled him down backwards. Snarling carmine-tinted teeth and narrowed golden eyes made the prone man's mouth twitch as a talon-clad hand swiped over his abdomen three times, gauging scratches bleeding heavily against the cotton tee-shirt encasing his torso.

Instead of flinching in pain, L picked his legs up forward in a somersault motion and locked his knees over the sides of his offender's neck and pulled him off with the just the strength of his legs. Twisting his torso forward, the crazed dark-haired threw his hands onto the monster's neck and chocked him as he held him onto the ground by pushing down on his legs.

"Why are you here?!" L screamed, feeling Raito's fear propel him into a new force of anger he hadn't felt in near decades. "There is nothing here worth searching for!"

"Except…" The beast's laughs along with the cracking of ancient bones beneath L's fingers, now tipped with razor-sharp claws, angered him even further. "Except for… _him_."

"HE ISN'T YOURS!"

"And… and neither is… he… _**yours!**_" The laughter grated on L's ears as he squeezed even harder, wanting the voice to _stop speaking_."You never finished the pact. He's still free-game. When they find him, he will be nothing more but live bait to them!"

"What do you mean _when_?"

"The counsel is _split_." Loosening his fingers on the still-guffawing man's throat, dark eyes sparkled with both confusion and dread. "What do you _think_ that means?"

"No…"

"You think protecting him will redeem you in some way?! That the past will suddenly disappear as if it had never happened, and that he'll wake up as if he had never forgotten about you at all?!" Pushing L off his lap, the terrifying smile still clung to the dark-haired animal (_for L, there was no other word to be used for the thing coveting itself in his people's cloak_) covered in various people's blood. "That little hero-complex of yours truly hasn't simmered through out the years, has it-"

"You won't touch him again!" Raito jumped at the sudden ferociousness of L's voice, the impending growl from just moments ago now hanging off every word he spoke. "You won't come near him, and if I find out that you've told anyone that he is here…"

"You act as if everyone fears you as much as the elders do." Cowering in his corner, Raitoseemed to become all the more frightened as L's face was becomingjust as distorted as the fiend beside him. Anger licked at L's bruised ego, not letting his pride rest for even a moment. "You are and have always been _nothing _to our kind, you little _traitor_."

"Haveyou really fallen so low?" The starry night abovethem began to gently cry, a light drizzle of rain specklingover four head, two not-so-human, and one not-so-alive. Raito barely heard the words still fallingfrom L's lips, cold winds elevating with each passing moment. "You of all people should know that I would never betray our kind."

"But you _did_, my former brother. You fell for this… _abomination_. He will be your downfall. He will be your destruction. He will _destroy us all_."

"He doesn't even know-"

"Now. He doesn't know _now_." The certainty within the darkening tone of the other's voice cut through L's insecurities, peeling back old scarred wounds that never seemed to rest, even after years of thinking other wise. "But what about when that monster in you snaps and you show him you're true form? Do you really think he'll really be so _understanding _and _calm _then? Or that you'll be strong enough to take his scorn without falling for your own lies? Hell, do you think he'll even look at you the same way after _tonight_? And yet…"

Pointing a clawed finger at Raito, golden eyes narrowed even further. "_He's_ the real monster in this. _Filth_… _rebellion… ANARCHY… that _is _his_ legacy!"

A familiar feeling of self control snapped in two as the last word escaped his former friend's lips, a long fingered hand coming down on its own accord-

Eyes shining brightly as the completely exposed esophagus and the blood-filled hand scarred his retinas, Raito stared over at his friend (_Friend? Enemy? It was hard to tell at this point…_) gazed down at the (_Dead? Was it… dead?_) torn-apart being prone on the dirt paved ground as still as the corpse beside him.

Wanting to move forward, yet honestly too scared to do much more than to stare at the man standing in front of him, incased by the shadows of the night, Raito felt a small gasp escape his lips.

'_What_ _have you done…_'

* * *

L stared down at the body crushed between his feet, feeling more _alive_than he's felt in nearly _two years_…

A small gasp cut through his racing thoughts as silvery-blue eyes faded back into their original onyx, turning back to look at the ashen young face that now stared at him with nothing but _fear_.

'_**What have you done…**_'

If L had had an actually beating heart, he was quite sure it would have stopped at the sight of the all too familiar flow of tears now coursing down Raito's face.

'Oh, you stupid, moronic _fool_…'

* * *

"There's a disturbance within the city, spreading out into the town... there's something happening that even _I'm _not aware of, really. I'm not sure why, but our counsel is becoming divided, and I fear that Raito may become threatened once more if even _one _of them sees his face." Sachiko whispered as she leaned forward out of the window, crimson red eyes luminous against the dark night sky. "Where is Raito, anyway? Usually he's home from the library by now…"

"He should be coming home any minute, if his track record with L is any indication." Soichirou admitted, leaning against the doorframe with a nonchalant expression on his face. "But you're not answering my questions, _dear_. Should I be worried about this, Sachiko?"

Pulling her feet forward, the short-haired woman frowned as she stood perched outside the window ledge, cherry-amber pendant swirling against her leather jacket as the night time breeze tickled her face.

"Was there ever a moment _not _to be, Soichirou?"

Watching his former wife fall over the small ledge and disappear once again, Soichirou shook his head in disdain.

"Only when it comes to _you_ and _your _family, Sachiko..."

* * *

"Raito…" The dirt-encrusted brunette could not seem to assimilate the calming tone of L's voice with that of the vilified form staring at him with blazing azure-blue eyes and elongated canines hanging over its lips. The dirty white tee-shirt, torn in various places, along with the ripped jeans hanging off his now bloodied legs did little to add to Raito's comfort as his mind's thoughts sped by in a blur.

'_There's a word for what you are…_'

The words couldn't seem to escape Raito's lips, but his thoughts seemed to be hypersensitive, emitting themselves to his friend without his own accord. The accursed hand that had done all the damage disappeared from view as the face turned away from his for one split second and swished back, the familiar pair of ebony-black orbs starting up Raito's bodily reactions once again.

"It's… it's safe now." L whispered uselessly, stepping forward just as Raito pushed himself up on his two clumsy feet using the brick wall behind him as leverage. "Raito, I-"

Before L could even finish his sentence, a pair of bruised forearms connected with a very warm, and still very much _alive_ (_if a bit worse for wear_), Yagami Raito engulfed his emaciated frame, shocking him into pure silence.

"Ryuuzaki…" Squeezing his eyes shut, Raito refused to let go of his friend for even a second, a part of him cheering in glee as cloth-enclosed arms wrapped around his mid-section and held on as tightly as he was. "Please, just tell me that you're ok before anything else."

"I think I should be asking _you _that question, Raito-kun." L could not hold back his smile as the boy in his arms dug deeper within his embrace, not caringabout the grime and bodily fluids clinging to both of their frames and seekingnothing but comfort in his hold. "I know I must have frightened you quite a bit."

"If I didn't expect it…" A tanned hand moved up L's back, making the older man shiver in anticipation. "Then I would probably not want to be near you right now."

"Expect it? Yes… I suppose Raito-kun has suspected something of this sort for almost a month now, hasn't he?" The logical nonsense flew out of L's mouth without him realizing it, not able to really concentrate on his words as Raito still lay (_willingly!_) within his arms. "Though I'm sure he did not expect something so… _grandiose_."

"If that's the word you want to use…" L nearly laughed at the muttered reply, his lips tickling upward in silent amusement.

"You want to ask me something, but you don't really know how." Wanting to bring the boy _even closer_, L held back the urge with bare restraint. "It's like a plague within Raito's mind…"

"I want to ask you a lot of things." Raito admitted, wonderingwhere exactly his companion got his gall from. "And that's quite a stupid thing to say after seeing all that I've seen tonight."

"I… suppose. But considering that Raito-kun is in my arms and not trying to run past me in complete fear, he will have to excuse me if my shock overcomes my apparently moronic questions." The small smile on L's face neither shrank nor grew as the air around them grew even more somber, eyes straining from Raito's mocha-brown gaze to the cadaver just right behind them. "So that leads me to believe that… you_ know_…"

"_There's a word for what you are_…" Raito repeated, this time out loud. Pulling back a small bit from the cold figure staring down at him with expectant (_and disappointed_) eyes, the teenage student forced himself away from the intense gaze riveting him to come closer once again and glanced over at the still-prone figure just a meter away from where he stood.

"Ryuu… Ryuuzaki…" Raito felt his breathing nearly collapse as the man that had been lying on the ground, covered completely in its own blood began to convulse, its once beastly visage morphing into one of familiarity…

* * *

"_L, look at this!" _

"_Raito… you know that you are not supposed to be looking at that. You're grandfather would stake me…"_

"_Like that actually works." _

"… … _Very true. Now put the book away." _

"_But… isn't this the guy that takes care of the bad guys?" _

"_I… suppose you could think of him in that way. He rids our kind of the impurities that may contaminate our very nature."_

"… _Like… like me, L?" _

"_No, Raito. __**Never let yourself believe that**__. And don't you ever let anyone tell you other wise." _

* * *

"I've seen him before." Raito whispered to himself, backing away from the now regular-looking man with a semi-handsome (_if now incredibly battered_) face. "In a… a book?"

The phrase-turned-question echoed within Raito's own ears, headache burning alongside the piercing stabs of icy pain prickling at his head-wound, which was causing his vision to blur rather brilliantly.

The questions began to churn even faster within his always-conscious mind, his barely-steady upright position wobbling even further. Arms caught the 17-year-old by the waist as the faint memory of familiar (_the answer was there, if only Raito could see who was speaking to whom!_) voices whirled about much too quick to hold onto for the moment.

Raito felt his eyes close on their own accord as the blood loss and dizziness became too much for him to handle, the familiar feel of arms pulling him ever-so-closer by his waist both freezing-cold and yet, still soothing to his fading consciousness.

'_Just let me sleep…_' He whispered within the vestiges of his own mind, pleading for nothing more than rest.

'_**Raito…**_'

'_Just… let me sleep…_'

Catching Raito as he fell completely limp within his arms, L sighed as he thought of just _what_ cleaning this damn mess would entail.

'Oh, do I have the _greatest_ luck of them all…'

Picking up the slim brunette with both arms, L grabbed the boy's bookbag and rushed out of the alley and rushed the opposite direction of Raito's home, quite sure that a certain old man with a heart of gold was _going to kill him_ for this.

* * *

"Watari…?"

The old man nearly stumbled over his own feet as he put down the book within his fidgety hands and glanced up at the spectacle standing in front of his back door, a dirty and blood-stained L holding onto a ripped bookbag in one hand and an equally grimy and blood-stained, if unconscious, Raito in the other, the later sporting a rather gratuitous head wound which seemed to alarm the librarian into action.

"L, what-"

"Please… please help him." L looked as if he were about to burst out into tears, something the old man had only seen _once_ before in his lifetime. "He refuses to wake on my request… and I must go back to take care of a… _situation_. I didn't know where else to bring him while I was gone."

Grabbing the sleeve of L's disgustingly dirty now off-white shirt, Watari led the ethereal being up the windingset of stairs, nodding over at him with a slight tilt of his head. "Come with me, L. I'll see what I can do."

And as always, Watari came to the youthful-looking man's aid, never once looking back.

The old man had to wonder how many years he had left before the ever-innocuous (_when he wasn't tearing other people's heads off and protecting Raito, anyway_) man following him was left to his own devices.

'Oh, does poor Raito have so much work ahead of him…' Watarialmost chuckled out loud as L continued to cradle the captivating brunette in his arms with a care that belied his tumultuous nature. When it came to the young boy, L became a contradiction; someone who was born to harm others, yet still carry the spirit to protect this one child (_whom in reality should have been his biggest enemy_), who refused to compromise for anyone.

If Watari hadn't been witnessing it for himself, he would have believed it was all straight out of a fairytale in the making.

"In here, L." Opening the first door on his left, Wataripointed unnecessarily at the bed as L rushed past him and laid the boy gently on his back. Taking his time in unwinding his arms from the still-unconscious brunette's mid-torso, the pajama-clad librarian tooka moment to study his friend's face drawn tightly with worry and exhaustion. "I'll need to clean him up a bit first before I can stitch him up. If you would be so kind as to bring me up a basin of wa-"

In a second's time, L held a large bowl of water, three small towels and a first-aid kit within his arms and hands.

"… … You do know that I quite hate it when you do that, correct?" Taking the sarcastic smile on L's face as a definite (_and obnoxious_) '_yes_', Watari sat the items on the night table by the bed Raito was situated and rolled up the sleeves of his pajama top. "Since I'm all set here, you can go ahead and… do… what…"

The cold space of air and complete emptiness of the room (_besides Raito and himself, of course_) sparked a small ignition of aggravation within the mustached librarian as he rolled his eyes behind his thick spectacles.

"Oh, how I _hate_ it when he _does that_."

* * *

"An attack has been made on my sector, grand counsel!" Sachiko blurted out as she shoved the large grand doors open, the opulence of their meeting room blindingin all of its golden-ivory splendor. Crimson curtains fell from the closed windows as the darkened sky twinkled only with the light the stars of the night had to provide, candles liningup in rows as a group of twelve men and women sat up at the sudden intrusion.

"Sachiko!" An older woman with long dark hair pulled into an elaborate knot behind her head and identical crimson-red eyes immediately sat up as the youthful-looking woman beside her sneered behind her hand in disgust. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, mother, I am fine." Peeling off her leather jacket, Sachiko grabbed the chair at the end of the table and sat down. "But one of my humans is not."

"And who was the perpetrator that invaded your territory, young one?"

"He's of no bother to me now. What matters to me is if more shall follow in his steps and disregard our code completely!" Crossing her legs in a showy fashion, Sachiko carefully regarded each person with their counsel and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I'll have no one else kill the ones I'm protecting, or go behind my back and attempt to play with my terrain."

"Is that the _only _reason you don't want them there?" The young woman beside Sachiko's mother scoffed brushing her choppy blonde hair away from her bright hazel-green eyes. "A certain 'Yagami Soichirou' has _nothing_ to do with it?"

"The moment my son was killed," Sachiko ground out, feeling the large current of truth seep out of her semi-lie and burn her internally. "Any ties that we could have had, were _cut_, Celina."

"What do you propose we do, Sachiko?" The man at the end of the table smiled as Sachiko felt her eyebrow twitch in agitation.

"I think, _Akio-san_, that we should re-establish order by holding a public counsel's meeting for _all _to voice their opinions. Otherwise, we'll have nothing but _chaos_." Smirking at the sudden snarl thrown at her direction by half the room, Sachiko relished in the animosity her fellow counsel members had to offer. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

"Fine then. Next month's full moon, we shall hold this meeting Sachiko wishes to have so badly." The man next to Akio spoke out, smiling at the young woman with unrestrained glee. Blood-red eyes and shaggy auburn-colored hair brought out the pale skin of the older man, looking every bit as satisfied as Sachiko herself felt. "Does anyone disagree to this?"

No one said anything contrary.

"Alright then. You have your meeting, my darling." Nodding over at Sachiko, she stood up and grabbed her jacket, not able to smother the gigantic smile hanging off of her full pink lips.

"Thank you father." Bowing in respect, Sachiko felt her eyes glimmer as the candles dimmed for one moment, only to flicker back to life the next. "Thank you _all_."

Feeling the burning bright green eyes follow her out of the room, Sachiko strolled out of the room with her head held high.

'You have two months left, L… and even that time seems to be coming up short. You _better_ have something up your sleeve when this all blows up in your face…'

* * *

"I see you're back." Watari looked over at the now pristine-looking (_if still rumpled_) L slouching against the wooden door, staring at the bed with bored (_yeah right_) dark eyes and hands pulling at the hem of his white tee-shirt. "I've cleaned him up and patched him up as best as I could…"

"Thank you, Watari." Ruffling his obsidian locks away from his face, dark circles seemed emphasized by the bright white complexion of his skin. "I suppose you would like an explanation for all this."

"… Maybe tomorrow, L. I'm just too tired for this right now." Standing up from Raito's bedside, Watari picked up the dirty shirt and pants that the boy had been donning just an hour ago smiled down at the teenager still enclosed his own dreams. "He's alright. In fact, I don't even think he has a concussion. He's breathing is steady, and he actually awoke while you were gone.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing of great importance." Watarismiled as L pouted and got off the wooden passageway in a huff, patting his ward on the head before strolling away from the bed and out of the room. "We'll talk tomorrow, L."

Watching the old man turn off the lights and close the door behind him, L rolled his eyes upwards and shook his head in frustration. Slowly moving towards the bed in front of him, L's hands began to ache as they itched to caress the boy's skin. Gazing down at his friend's face with forgotten-affection, L nearly felt his heart break as he thought of the past couple of hours and just how _close_ he had actually been to losing his dearest and most precious companion…

And all due to some _accident_.

'It had to have been an accident…' Something in L whispered as he sat down beside Raito, lying his head just a few centimeters away from the other's neck, the familiar scent both reassuringand yet, tantalizing in two completely different ways. 'They have no need to come _here _anymore.'

'_But remember, you were told long before you ever met Raito that there would be obstacles in your path to freedom…_'

Holding onto his partner with an urgency that cut through even L's heart of ice (_ice to everyone but Raito, of course…_), the insomniac closed his eyes and attempted, if only for a short while, to rest.

'I don't care what I haveto give up in the process. Raito will _not_ become a casualty to their cause… _**Never, ever again**_.'

* * *

_Dark opaque eyes began to gloss over as small hands cradled a snow white lily within his small palms, the flower engulfing his tiny grip almost extraordinarily. _

"_I feel as if I am lost most of the time, walking through the mists of a dank fog…"_

_A man covered in heavy crimson red and amber gold robes turned over to the boy with a sincerely kind smile painted on his face as he put a hand on the small boy's head. The tiny child on the brim of tears leaned against the sturdy leg beside them, the comfort of another always welcome. _

_Especially through darkened times, such as these._

"_Why is that, my child?" The genial voice lulled him into security as the boy felt his mouth open, and the words escape him without even meaning to._

"_The oracles say that though the one I'm destined for is not yet born… and that though they may seem to promise great things in the future, that __they will be a disgrace on us all." The child named L admitted, feeling the overwhelming emotion of despair cling incessantly to his insides. _

"_I'm sure that is not true. You're one of noble descent, L Lawliet. You, of all people, shall hold a mate with great strength and conviction… they most certainly will __**not**__ be a disgrace." _

"_But the other elders say that-"_

"_Listen only to me, L." Kneeling down to his level, mahogany brown eyes stained carmine red empowered the impressionable boy as he held in a breath of astonishment. "The one meant for you will be everything you have ever wanted in a mate, and more. They shall be intelligent, and most importantly, your match in the best and worst of ways. He shall love you more than you have ever known … and you shall never have to be alone again. Is that not what you desire most of all, young one?"_

"… … _Yes." _

"_Does that sound like a disgrace, my child?" _

"_No." Blue eyes dimmed to a stormy navy, slowly falling back into their original ebony. The lily within the child's hands began to glow a fluorescent silver only to fade just moments later. _

"_Then, you shall be at peace when the time comes to meet him, yes?" The old man regained his smile, watching in wonder as the power within the chamber room evaporated, as if it were never there._

_L blushed as he ducked his head and nodded, still holding onto the flower within his grasp for all that he was worth. _

"_Many years from now; centuries, even, you shall gain the knowledge necessary to protect the one for you, L. Not everyone will understand the connection the two of you shall hold… perhaps not even my own children, which whom reside within the counsel, shall be in accordance with it. Yet…" The older man smiled prudently as the boy looked up at him with sable-black watery eyes. "When the time comes to use that power developing within you, all I can ask is for you to use it wisely." _

"_Yes, Amaya-sama." L grinned as he put the flower to his nose and gently sniffed. "I promise you with all that I am, I will." _

* * *

Raito had fallen into sleep within darkness, and he had awoken in it.

Draped in it, drowning in it…

Yet he felt no fear.

After everything he had witnessed just a few hours ago (_it had been a few hours since then, right?!_) he was much less unnerved than he supposed he ought to be…

Though, now that he was gaininghis full consciousness, he supposed the cold pair of sleeve-clad arms had a lot to do with his lack of paranoia. Glancingdown at the pale face snuggled against his neck smudged by the dark abyss encasing them both, Raito held onto the feeling of familiarity that L's embrace seemed to inspire within him.

'I want to know you…'

In contrast, Raito's own heated hands brought the man closer to his person, carefully tracing the lines of his nose and cheeks with gentle fingertips.

'I want to believe in you…'

Bringing his whole palm down against the mass of sable fringe of hair falling over the man's narrow face, the curiosity Raito tried to reign in since day one overran all other thoughts and inhibitions.

'I want you to stop lying to us both…'

"There's something in you…" Raito whispered as he dug himself closer into his companion's hold, laying his cheek against the other's as he felt his other hand press against Ryuuzaki's chest. "That you don't want me to see."

There was no heartbeat.

There was no inhalation or exhalation.

This…

This was _death _at its _finest_.

"Is this it?" Raito breathed out in awe, large brown eyes shimmering with a radiant cherry red light. "Is this…?"

"Why are you asking," L whispered against Raito's own ear, making the boy jump back in shock. "If you know the answer to your own question?"

"I… I…" Feeling his heart race a mile a minute, the teenage student gulped as he leaned away from the suddenly terrifying smile fracturing Ryuuzaki's normally stoic façade into one of pure malicious amusement.

"We both know that acting the idiot has never been your _style_, Raito." The lack of formality took Raito off-guard as the man silently crept up from his prone position and propped himself up to the brunette's upright position fluidly against the cloak of darkness.

"I don't… want…" Throwing off the covers that seemed to suffocate him even further, Raito limped off of the bed and searched for the light switch as his friend watched him amusedly. "I'm done with this! Just what are you, Ryuuzaki?! I want to hear it from _you_!"

"It's no fun when I have to give all the answers, Raito."

"This isn't about fun, this is about my life!"

"And mine as well. Answers don't just affect one person, Raito, but everyone involved."

Finally grabbingsomething resembling a knob on the farthest-right wall, Raito flicked it upward, his eyes blinded momentarily by the yellow-white light. Keeping his back towards the man no doubt smiling behind him, Raito pushed back his lengthy caramel-brown locks, fingers twitching as they touched the heavy bandage and cloth wrapped around his head wound.

'I can't take this… I can't, I can't, _**I can't!**_'

"I'll ask you again, and this time, I want a _real _answer, damn it!" Raito finally screamed, finally sick and tired of being kept in the dark when all he wanted was the damn _truth_. "Just what _are _you, you sick freak?!"

"You know what I am, Raito… I can see the answer in your eyes, whether you wish to believe it yourself or not." The 17-year-old schoolboy stiffened as the breathy voice tickled the shell of his ear, eyes wide as he was reminded of both Ryuuzaki's hidden _speed_ and _strength. _"_Say it_. _Say it so that we both __**know**__ just what a __**monster**__ I really am…_"

Hand holding steadily against the wall in front of him, Raito felt his mind clear as the word (_the one word that he knew would change everything, and ultimately, his __**future**_) he had been chasing after for nearly a _month_ clung to the tip of his tongue and poured over his lips.

"_Vampire_…"

"Are you afraid?" Ryuuzaki murmured over his shoulder, probing, investigating; all without Raito's consent.

"No…" Came the automatic response, both candid and without deception. Gently lowering his hand, Raito allowed the man to flick off the lights once more, plunging them both into familiar shadows.

'_**There's no going back **__**after this**__…_' Ryuuzaki's voice whispered within his mind, wintry-white hands pulling backwards; back into their freezing abyss.

Holding back a saddened smile, Raito responded the only way he knew how-

'_I wouldn't want to, anyway_.'

And succumbed to the cold embrace which could someday very well be his imminent demise.

* * *


	9. Confessions of a Lost Boy

A.N: ... ... Hey, you. I missed you. Did you miss me?

... ... ...!

What do you mean no?!

^.^; Oh well. Here's the next chapter, which has been burning a hole in the back of my head since I wrote the _last _chapter. Though in apology, this chapter promises to bring you angst, sap, drama and... a nude L?! Wtf?! Maybe I should bold that to get more people's attentions... XD We shall be getting back into the action portion soon, and I want to cover as much as possible in the next couple of chapters; hopefully in doing so I don't take forever to update again. -.-; Don't hate the player, you guys, hate the game. Hate the game _bad_.

Many thanks to Kitsune55 for beta-ing for me as well! What would I do without her?! Not much, probably. Lol.

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Eight: _Confessions of a Lost Boy_

* * *

"You're still bleeding, Ryuuzaki…" Raito whispered as he felt Ryuuzaki's side, the darkness of the room no longer as stifling as before. The wetness of what could only be blood pressed against the side of L's ribs and stained through his white shirt, soaking Raito's fingers with a pale red he could not see. The kneeling vampire barely raised an eyebrow at the wound as the teenager sitting on the bed in front of him blinked against the heavy darkness. "I can patch it up, but you'll have to turn the lights on again."

"It's not a problem." Ryuuzaki muttered, his fingers snapping against each other as his eyes melted into a sharp ice-blue.

"_Please_." Raito pleaded, his own light golden-brown eyes softly glowing in the dark. "Let me at least do this for you."

"… … Fine. Go ahead then."

Taking in a deep breath, Raito jumped off the bed, quickly flicking the light's back on and all but pushing his friend onto the mattress he had been sitting on just moments before. Ignoring the startled gape on Ryuuzaki's face, the pink-faced teen grabbed the first-aid kit still sitting beside the bed on the night-table and opened it slowly, motioning for the immortal to take off his shirt.

"It'll be easier to clean your wounds than to just have you hold it up." Raito uselessly explained as Ryuuzaki quickly whipped the once-pristine shirt off of his head and bounced on the bed with the excitement of a child, making Raito wonder if he had made the right choice in staying. "So… are you… does it-"

"Hurt?" The dark-haired vampire gave the boy a half-smile as Raito kneeled beside him, cheeks still a bright-red. The anti-septic swabs almost fell out of the boy's hands as he gulped, not quite sure why he felt so uncomfortable around the man… "I suppose pain is irrelative to me, though not for the reasons you might think. Though we are different, that doesn't mean we don't feel pain."

"Oh." The tiny squeak of a response elicited a sigh from the older man as he continued to sit still and let Raito work.

'I've always known there was something different about him… but the fact that he's… that he _kills _people to survive… as freakish as it sounds; as much as it _should _disgust me, all that doesn't _bother _me in the least.' Cleaning the wound with surprisingly steady hands, Raito kept within his thoughts as dark-blue eyes continued to beat down on him mercilessly with their unerring intensity. 'It's… it's something else. What he _is_… that's just one piece of the puzzle.'

"Raito-kun?"

'It's the possibility of what he's _done_ to my mind that frightens me even more.'

Leaning forward on the balls of his feet, Raito stills his fingers against the cold pale flesh of his friend's thin side, the skin firm against his light touch. "Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

"You seem distant now." The dark-haired night-stalker swept the child's bangs away from his own brightening gaze, the tint of red unmistakable against his golden visage."Am I wrong in thinking that Raito-kun is not scared of me now, or does he fear me now that he knows that I live off of the one thing that keeps him… alive, for lack of a better term?"

"You won't hurt me." After all that they had been through so far, Raito knew this to be the one thing that was true. Though the _why _still lingered in the back of his mind… "Why protect me, and do all of the things you've done for me, if only to kill me in the end?"

"Perhaps I am stalking my prey, making sure that no one else touches what is _mine_." The predatory smirk on Ryuuzaki's face did little to scare his companion, if the dubious look on the teen's face was anything to go by. "What? It is a legitimate concern that Raito-kun should _have_, isn't it?"

"Just give it up, Ryuuzaki." Not able to hold back the sly grin spreading across his cheeks, lips twitching with amusement. "I'm just… not all that afraid of you. You might as well be a fluffy teddy-bear with fake fang implants for how scary you are to me."

Pulling himself up off the bed within the blink of an eye (though to Raito, that millisecond of speed seemed like nothing, _only a rush of air along with a string of white cloth and lurking darkness_), the now standing 'injured' man stared at his ward with wide, ice-blue eyes iridescent against the warm glow of tangerine light dimly covering the homey room.

"Raito-kun should not be so comfortable around someone he has known for so little time." The schoolboy rolled his eyes, having suspected his companion in lying, and now having the evidence to back it up.

"You mean _now_." Holding onto Ryuuzaki's gaze, Raito moved just a bit closer, his eyes gaining a bright carmine-like sheen. "I don't know you _now_."

"I think you are a bit out of it, Raito." Pushing the boy down on the bed head-first, Raito could almost feel the smile curving over Ryuuzaki's lips as he sputtered out indignantly and rolled himself onto his back. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation on a later date?"

"I still have questions, Ryuuzaki!" Raito blushed as the dark-haired exhibitionist then began to strip himself free of the rest of the clothing he had left on, leaving himself as bare as the day he was born. "And I can't just keep waiting for you to regale me with the answers whenever you feel like! I'm over this already!"

"All I want right now, Raito, and all you would like to do as well…" Ryuuzaki slowly drawled as he crawled on top of Raito's now still form, eyes darkening into an entrancing stormy blue as the beautiful cherry-red flush on the younger man's face seemed to enthrall the nightwalker all the more. "Is for you to allow yourself a bit more _sleep_, Raito-kun."

"R-Ryuu… what are… you…" Feeling his eyes slowly close on their own accord, the familiar feeling of dark blue eyes tracing every feature of his moonlit face crawled over Raito. The bounce of the mattress he was lying on was the last thing Raito felt before a rush of warmth encased his entire being, drowning in a pool of inky black and anger…

Before darkness became his enemy once more.

* * *

"Raito isn't home yet." Soichirou snarled over at the young looking woman, appearing every bit the paranoid parent he had promised himself to never _be_. The darkness outside was slowly receding, reminding him that for the moment, _he did not have much time_. "Sachiko, _why_ isn't he home yet."

Sitting down next to her husband, crimson-red eyes widened as she attempted to pacify him before his deadly calm voice erupted into a full-blown tantrum of epic proportions.

"He's being taken care of right now, and I promise you from the bottom of my heart that he is no longer in any sort of danger."

"Today."

"Soichirou…"

"Just say it. He's still with _L_, isn't he? The man that abandoned our son, much like someone else I know, and _stole_ the most precious thing to him. Is that _really_ you're idea of fixing things?! Getting them back together again?" Not knowing what to say, Sachiko kept quiet and allowed her husband to rant as freely as he wanted, willing to take the blame all herself. "Lovely, Sachiko. I'll give you a round of applause for that one just before I get my coat and-"

Stomping over to the coat stand, Soichirou almost cussed as a pair of cold familiar hands halted him in his movements. "NO!"

"I knew it. I _fucking _knew it!" Soichirou jumped away from her grip and went to grab his coat once again as a flash of red cloth and black leather stood in front of his now fully upright posture. Inwardly sighing, the middle-aged man simply stated the obvious. "You're doing it again."

"They are meant to be together. We can't stop fate from running its course, as much as you would _love _to try!" Covering her head with the hood of her leather coat and slipping on her gloves, Sachiko walked past the still-fuming human she was still irrevocably bound to and made her way to the door. "Their connection goes deeper than you can even _conceive _and is far more ingrained into their psyches than any sort of separation they may be forced to interface on the physical plane you and I know so well. You split them up, and you will only be setting yourself up for your own disappointing failure."

"And how long am I suppose to let this go on for? Until our own son is dead and gone and that damn vampire is at my feet begging for forgiveness _again_?! You don't know how hard it was to go through all this the first time, Sachiko! It was hell for me to even _think _about the possibility that our son could be... could've died. Don't you understand that he is all I have left?" Glancing down onto the floor, Soichirou took in a deep breath and held in his hysteria. "What do I have to do to make sure that doesn't happen again?"

"Just promise me you'll let Raito come to you on his own will, and I promise that by tomorrow night I will have spoken to L about... _this_." At the small nod and raking hand gesture passed onto her, Sachiko smiled sorrowfully and opened the door, flying down the pavement and across the street in a flash of black. "We won't make the same mistakes twice. I swear."

Still staring at his wife's coveting figure, even as she seemed to disappear from bare sight, Soichirou wondered how many lies he had left to feed his poor son before the oblivious child called him out on his own bullshit.

* * *

Taking comfort in the cover of darkness as his ally, L twirled a piece of Raito's flawless honey-brown hair between his nimble fingers with practiced grace. A symphony of words and images raced through his mind as Raito's dream world tracked through his ever-thinking mind, eyes faraway even as his senses stayed completely in tuned with the environment surrounding both himself and his dreaming companion.

'_I missed this…_' L caustically called out in his mind, knowing that Raito could not actually hear him speak. '_I missed __**you**_.'

Wracking his sharp-nailed fingers through the boy's scalp, the vampire's eyes began to change color intermediately, going from a sparkling sapphire-blue to a near-translucent pewter in milliseconds.

'_I can't make myself regret staying by your side._' Feeling the mattress dip at the boy's slight movement in his sleep, L threw a leg over the teenager's hip to steady him. '_Even after all of the mayhem past, and all of the chaos yet to come… you are my __**life**__, Raito. How… how can I just throw that away?_'

'_I'm a wolf in sheep's skin… a monster coveted by his own effervescent façade. There's no real way in knowing that I won't turn on you tomorrow, Raito. I'm a deception come to un-life, and you've known it from the beginning. The moment we met… you saw me for what I was; a cheap fabrication based upon human life._' Eyes finally falling into their original shade of coal-black, yet still wide-open with constant vigilance, the nightwalker dug his face into the still-unaware halfling's shoulder, shuddering at the captivating scent Raito always seemed to carry with him. '_Yet you are also one in the same. You hid behind an innocent smile, pretending to be something you were not. Even __**you**__ believed the lie to a certain extent, while still feeling the pitfalls of perfection strain against your poor back._'

'_How have you lived for these past two years without truly knowing yourself, my dearest? I suppose, in the end, you had to create another __**you**__ to adjust within this new reality… but by casualty, you have become two separate entities, my love…_' Sighing to himself, L silently recounted his own memories of the boy he used to know and compared him to the teenager he knew _now_.'_This new person whom carries themselves awkwardly within a faked veracity made especially for their own good, suspecting everyone of the farces that hold us both world's apart, yet naively searching for the answers he already secretly knows is one. And the boy I fell for five years back, who knew what he wanted, and how to play those around him to get it with no questions asked is another. A person who would look at me now… and hate me with everything that he was for the betrayal that I had handed to him on a silver platter. You trusted me, Raito. You trust me now. But how long will that trust last once your memories are returned… and you must choose?_'

Glancing at the alarm clock on the night table beside him, the numbers 3:08 shone brightly with vivid red colors.

'_There's no place for people like us in either spectrum of our worlds. We are anomalies not meant to fit with neither the humans you live with… nor the monsters like me who hunt them._' Closing his eyes in a show of relaxation, L allowed himself to travel along with Raito within his dreams, his thoughts turning more and more sour-faced by the moment. '_What will they do with us when they realize just how closely knit we truly are, Raito?_'

Feeling a warm hand curl around his chest, the dark-haired vampire gave a rare, genuine smile; one both few, and far in between.

"I won't let them take you away from me…" L whispered against the darkness, the smile still etched upon his pale lips and marble-skinned cheeks. "_Not this time_."

Honey-brown eyes gently lifted themselves open as the smile on L's face neither faded nor grew in length. The boy's drowsy disposition barely held him as the cowls of sleep clung to Raito's burning sight, barely having heard with the other had meant for him to hear.

The words came out in a hoarse whisper, yet L held them close to his heart none the less.

"I'll stay with you too."

* * *

"And?"

"It's just as you said sir!" A small man with reddish-blonde hair bounced continually as the grand-elder rolled his eyes, wondering just why all of his peons had to be such _imbeciles_. "L-sama! L-sama is both alive and residing within the town Sachiko-hime has been sworn to _protect_! And not only that… but he was… he was defending a _human_!"

"A human, you say?" Akio leaned forward, his royal blue robes falling over the golden chair in waves of satin. "What did the human look like, Loki?"

Loki pouted as he jumped and landed on the ground with a small splat, the twitching elongated ears poking out from under his long tuft of hair falling flat against his head. "No one was able to get a look, sir… but I have two witnesses who said that L-sama and Sachiko-sama met up after he whisked the human away, and they both burned the remains of the two carcasses left at the scene!"

"Well, did anyone at least get a look at just _who_ L _killed_ in order to protect his little _human_."

Loki's bushy tail seemed to lower itself onto the floor as he pouted beneath the tendrils of his long strawberry-blonde hair. "No, Akio-sama. Not at all."

"I see… then we cannot prosecute."

"What?! WHY, AKIO-SAMA!"

"No one saw the actual battle in question, and we do not even have a corpse or a name to pin onto the crime… not only that, but the man was stepping into Sachiko's grounds. If we were to attempt to out him, L would probably disappear, and Sachiko would fight against us with everything she has. We would lose it all regardless." Akio sighed as he sat down within his high-chair and rubbed at his skin, eyes flashing a sharp gold. "For now, we shall say nothing of this incident until we have more information. Loki-"

Said boy rushed up in question, eyes wide and hair standing on end.

"You shall gather our best recruits and gather more about the matter at hand. If we find that we are able to prove that L is indeed still alive, we will be able to move in to her territory even without Sachiko's consent. Until then…" Smiling vindictively as the candles flickered ominously around him, rich royal blue robes twinkled with small orbs of light. "I will _personally _attend to Sachiko's matters and just _what _she is doing in her... 'spare time', _myself_."

"YES, AKIO-SAMA!"

Bounding up, the mannish-creature rolled out of the room as Akio grinned to himself, eyes burning a bright golden-amber.

'I've got you just where I want you, Sachiko... Whether you realize it or _not_.'

* * *

"You don't sleep much, do you?"

L smiled as the boy cracked open a cinnamon-brown eye, body furled closely to his side. The uncomfortable rasp in the boy's voice echoed within the small room as he stretched within the mini-embrace and smiled.

"I suppose it depends on Raito-kun's definition of the word… _sleep_." The still-sleepy student didn't look the slightest bit amused at L's own warped joke, eyeing him with a deep sort of apprehension and agitation. "We have dreams, just like humans do. We bleed, just like humans do. Our bodies... just function a bit... _differently, _is all."

"Can you have children?" Not surprised at the sudden question aimed his way, L gave a feral grin at the old curiosity that seemed to be _ingrained_ in his companion's DNA.

"Only some of us have the privilege of being able to do so. Those who were born by the original vampire blood may spawn with both humans and other 'purebred' alike... but those of us who were turned, however, may not have the same fortune. For the most part, our bodies still react the same way, our functions still carry on the same, even past 'death'. However, how a body takes in vampire blood is still all genetics." L explained with a sort of nostalgic gleam in his eye, remembering a while back when a similar conversation between himself and his companion sprawled out next to him took place... "It's all very complex... though we do have a lot of scientists looking into it."

"_Scientists_?" Raito literally looked spellbound by the course their conversation seemed to be taking. "You guys can do _magic_. Why don't you just-"

"Our 'magic' doesn't quite work that way, Raito. We are not omnipotent or invincible... we are not even immortals, as many people outside of our realm have come to believe. Thinking otherwise would lead to a vampire's own demise." Glancing over at the clock, which now read 5:27, L thought about if he wanted Raito to actually go to school or not... "We, just like humans, are rooted to our own survival instincts. Coming out of the woodwork and trying to be something we are not is like _asking _for an invitation to be killed... or massacred, if the humans were ever to learn just _where _we all resided."

"I suppose..." Wanting to ask, and not really feeling like holding himself back in that regards, Raito leaned forward and let his self-control finally snap. "What about all the-"

"Let me guess, old vampire myths? Really, Raito? You are becoming ridiculously redundant."

"Hey!"

"I will not burst into flames when exposed to sunlight... at least, not immediately. Sunlight, though not explosive, is still hazardous to our health. Garlic is disgusting, but not all that dangerous. I can hold a crucifix and not be sent to the pits of hell or burned... What else is there...?"

"Staking you in the heart? Holy water? Silver bullets...?"

"... ... I would prefer if I some wooden object wasn't pushed into my chest, but I doubt I would die from it, since my heart is basically useless anyway. Perhaps if it was kept in, I would probably bleed until I was immobile... Holy water is actually really tasty when first blessed, I've had the experience first hand... and silver bullets are for werewolves, not vampires, Raito. Don't put us in that same category of _filth_ if you don't mind…"

"Is there such thing as werewolves too?"

"Raito, that question is so stupid, I will not even deign to answer it. Now-"

"Hey, but you said that you weren't omnipotent! If that's so, how _does _a human them self kill a vampire, then?!"

"Weren't you paying attention, Raito?" Grabbing the boy's neck in a mockingly-threatening gesture, L grinned as the boy gurgled defiantly and grasped at his forearm. "You chop off the head, of course. If not, capture one and wait until sunrise and unleash them onto the barrage of bright light where you can watch them burn to death in a slow progression of torturous screams, bursting blood vessels and pealing, disintegrating skin..."

"Ew..." Hand dropping from his neck, L rested his head on the teen's collarbone and sighed. "You probably could have kept that information to yourself, Ryuuzaki."

Raito blinked as the man above him stiffened rather uncomfortably and burrowed himself deeper into his embrace. "What is it, Ryuuzaki?"

"I suppose this is the part where I _formally_ introduce myself." Sitting up and basking in the confused face and bleary eyes the boy sent his way, the older (_much older than Raito could ever really fathom_) vampire smiled as he leaned in as closely as possible and grabbed the teenager's arm before he scurry backwards. "For now on, Raito, I would prefer it if whenever we are alone, you would call me... _L._"

"L... So it was you." Raito murmured, his inner-ramblings getting the best of him, though finally feeling as if things were beginning to make _sense _to him at the same time_._ "All those times when you would say something and I would blank out and _listen_ _in _to someone else speaking in my head, like a memory-"

"It was not on purpose by my part... I believe that Raito himself is attempting to subconsciously revive his own memories, though doing so may have disastrous effects on your psyche." Watching the boy stand up from the bed and glance over at the clock, L inwardly sighed as his ward did not begin his grand questionnaire right off the bat. "If you wish to be who you once were, you will need to find out what it is you _really_ wish to know and in satisfying your 'curiosity', those flashbacks may at least decrease in voracity."

"Couldn't _you_ find out for-"

"No." Immediately shutting down that conversation in the making, L flicked some of the hair hanging over his eyes off of his forehead, eyes dimming back to their original charred ebony. "I will not play with your mind anymore than necessary, Raito-kun. It is _you_ that must decide what it is that is off-setting his memories and what he is truly yearning to know."

"Will you at least reverse this... whatever _this _is?!" Raito asked in a small voice, both frightened and excited at the prospect of finally having his memories back.

"If Raito can find within himself to promise me two things," L smirked, feeling that things were swinging into his favor for the first time in a long, _long_ time. "I will relay to him stories of our past together. His memories, however, shall have to wait to become unsealed."

"Why?!"

"Because only two people with an incredibly strong connection can formulate a spell that powerful so as to not injure the one at hand." Playing with his ward's short auburn strands of hair, L barely noticed the hardened glare sent in his direction by the boy beneath him. "It is not as simple as Raito-kun might think."

"You did it before!"

A second pause and sudden freezing of ice-cold fingers against his forehead later, Raito almost wished he could take back his words as the now wounded look floating on L's face hit the teenager straight in the heart.

"I did. And now, Raito-kun has no idea how much I regret ever doing so." Moving down the slopes of his face, tan skin began to quiver at the striking pricks of subzero marks trailing themselves down until those same fingers griped at Raito's own hands. "Even if I wanted to, I would not be able to do much of anything without a stronger bond with you, Raito. The reason you are so confused and your thoughts appear to be muddled is because our older connection _is _reawakening on its own terms, but more time must be allowed before I could even _attempt_ anything so dangerous as to delve into your mind and-"

"Wait, _dangerous_?!" Wanting to strangle the bloodsucker, Raito wondered why he seemed to always be the last to know these kinds of things. "You did this to me knowing that it was _dangerous_?! How dangerous are we talking here?!"

"Regardless of any past repercussions that could have occurred, you are fine." Ignoring Raito's freaked-out countenance (_again_), L continued on with a slight smile now perched upon his lips. "As I was saying prior to Raito's outburst, if you promise me these two things that I wish to be accepted, I shall indulge Raito with parts of his past, and when _able_ to, return to him his memories without one single complaint. Does that sound fair?"

Raito gave his friend a critical stare before putting a small bit of space between them, already not liking the way L's lips were threatening to split into an all-out grin.

"What are these two... promises?"

L simply smiled as he bounded off of the bed (_Raito blushing and sputtering as he covered his eyes was perhaps the most adorable thing he had ever seen out of the corner of his eye_) and picked up his pants, wondering if the boy would nag at him if he were to take off the infernal bandages covering his abdomen and part of his chest...

"L, you didn't answer my question!"

Pulling up his pants, L walked out of the room with that annoying grin on his face, gently snapping off the bandages with razor sharp appendages as he walked out of the room and letting them flutter to the floor in a mass of off-white and red, his skin now completely unmarred except for a small thin white line that looked like a newly healed scar.

Raito could have asked…

But instead he just shook his head, knowing that he would probably only get some smartass comment in response.

"Follow me, Raito... and you'll understand just what it is I wish of _you_ in return."

Brown eyes narrowed as the confused 17-year-old followed after the vague vampire and closed the door shut with a bang, knowing (_just knowing_) that whatever L had in store for him would _not_ be the least bit pleasant.

'Asshole, _indeed_...'

* * *


	10. Behind Rose Colored Shades

A.N: I'll start off right off the bat, and just come out with the truth.

There is a _reason _this story hasn't been updated, and it may make many people angry.

I honestly wasn't happy with some of the reviews/PM's I've been getting, and that's the honest truth.

There was a portion in this story that was taken from Twilight (I know, many either cringe or squeal at the sound of its name), and many people either fangirled or were angered at the fact. I understand why; not everbody is a Twilight fan. I'm not going to lie; even _I'm _not a Twilight fan. However, I've never read the books (never intend to either) and have seen the movie once (_once, damn it!_) and the line that I put in the dialogue is what inspired this story. It was so melodramatic that it got me thinking 'OH MY GOD, I CAN IMAGINE L SAYING SOMETHING THAT CHEESY WHILE LIGHT IS ALL 'WTF?!'', and it helped birth this fic. Hell, there are so many other vampire!fiction references in this story, that it makes me sad that more people don't pick those up, but all of a sudden I put in perhaps three lines of dialogue from one movie, and everyone is up in arms. That bothers me. But I dealt with it.

No, what REALLY pisses me off is when people do this (and a lot have been doing it; NO LIE):

"THIS IS TOO MUCH LIKE TWILIGHT! ((ANGRY FACE)) WTF, HARI-CHAN?!"

... ... Seriously? REALLY?! Like I said, I've never even read any part of the series to know if this is true or not, but I am not trying to make a Twilight: DN adaptation. I only do that with movies I actually _LOVE (_Shameless Plug: _like my MR!/DN adaptation fic, "When Dreaming Ends"... Please check it out! :D)_and not movies that made me go to sleep as I watched them. I am not setting out to offend Twilight lovers, because I respect all fandoms, but I will not tolerate people who are willing to brush aside my writing because of one source of dialogue. What about the True Blood references? Or the Buffy the Vampire Slayer references? There are so many more, but those are just a few that I feel most peeps would recognize if they just _looked_ (and those are all vamp!fiction that actually rocks!).

So... I think I feel a bit better. If I get flamed, I don't really care. But I won't lie and tell you that this story isn't two seconds away from being scraped by such a fact. I don't mind ConCrit, nor am I fragile by any means, but seriously you guys. If you have something nasty to say, back it up with something substantial, and that's all I ask.

This chapter isn't beta-ed, because I felt I made you guys wait long enough (I mean the people who obviously enjoy this fic and realize it isn't all sappy-garbage, of course) and I hope that the next chapter will be better. A little more plot, and then we get to the action again! I love writing action, I've realized... XD

Thanks for reading!

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Nine: _Behind Rose-Colored Shades_

* * *

"Hello, Raito!"

Bright maroon-colored eyes, darkened only by the covered windows and lack of light within the hallway, narrowed as a familiar figure dressed in his normal dork-like attire smiled and waved at him, mustache twitching as a cup of what looked to be coffee was brought to his aging lips.

"Where did L go?" Raito whispered, still not entirely comfortable in front of the man who had, quite possibly, helped save his life. It was strange to feel so awkward in the presence of someone who had helped him adjust for the last three years without his own memory, but the questions built up inside the young student's mind were not willing to allow himself a modicum of trust towards someone whom had essentially _lied _to him for all intents and purposes.

"Did he pull his little disappearing act again?" Watari frowned as he rolled his eyes, not looking the least bit amused. "I'm afraid he does that all too often. I think he believes it makes him 'mysterious' in some way, but all it really does is make you think him a jackass, really."

Inwardly grinning at the stifled chuckle the boy hid behind a well-placed palm, Watari felt his spirits rise a bit in satisfaction. "You have many questions for me, I suppose."

"And you have many answers, I would think."

"If you have a bit of time, I think I could spare a few… _details_." Waving the boy over after him, Watari curled his free hand around the base of the stair banister and gave his charge a small smile, still seeming genuine even after the farce was no longer in effect. "I won't lie to you, Raito. It is unnecessary to at this point."

Still feeling a bit edgy with his surroundings, Raito picked at the baggy pajamas billowing around his lithe frame and steadily made his way to the stairs. "What about L?"

"What about him? He'll reappear when he is ready to, but for right now, I suppose the window shades are open for a reason. Taste for the dramatics that one has…" Holding back another grin at just how right the older man was, Raito sighed as he sped his feet up to match the other's wide pace.

With a strangely flighty feeling whispering about his chest, the teenager missed the pair of dark-blue eyes following his figure from aside a large grandfather clock at the other end of the hallway, L's slouched, if emaciated form almost completely invisible behind the tall base of the clock.

'Dramatic, indeed…'

* * *

"Sit, Raito, sit! You look positively _starved_!"

"O-ok…"

Taking in the feast sitting on the kitchen table in front of him, Raito felt a bit faint from all the excitement the day (_and night_) had afforded him thus far. Watari practically pushed the boy into the chair closest to him, setting down a plate almost immediately after. "You are much too young to already be so very thin! I always have to remind you to eat! Sometimes, I think you need me to function as much as L does!"

"L… You knew him this whole time, and you let me think otherwise." Raito muttered more or less to himself, trying to come to terms with the facts being presented to him.

"Mm-hm." Grabbing a large spoon, the older man began to dole out a large portion of scrambled eggs and bacon on Raito's plate and quickly placed a small stack of pancakes right next to them. "I knew both who he was, and what he was to you before you lost your memories, this is all true, but everything isn't how you think it is, Raito."

"What do you mean?! You _lied _to me, Watari. Other than my father, whose only halfway there all the time _anyway_, you're the only one I've come to trust in this silly little town! Do you even know how this makes me feel, realizing just out of the blue that my only true _friend_ has been keeping such secrets from me?" The hand now gripping the spatula tightened its handle on the instrument, light blue veins all the more prominent against the pastel white skin. "I'm sorry, I think I should just g-"

"Wait." Before Raito could even move, his arm was pulled back to its original position. "I know what you're thinking, and it's _not true_. I didn't lie to you because L asked me to, Raito. If that were the case, I wouldn't have been able to live with it _myself_, let alone look you in the eye day in and day out_._"

"Really?" The stoic brunette tilted his head unconvincingly. "Why is it that I don't quite believe you?"

"Please, Raito, understand that if I have done you any harm, it was not my intention to do so. Yes, someone did ask me to keep your life from you, but… the person who wished this…"

"Watari-"

"Raito, _listen _for once in your young life. The reason I've done all of these things and kept all this to myself is because the person who asked this of me was…" The boy's eyes faded back into their original almond-brown as Watari's clear ocean-blue gaze shone behind his spectacles. "Was _you_."

Raito felt his jaw drop on its own accord, wondering if the people surrounding him _lived _to see him in a permanent state of shock.

'Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…'

* * *

'_**What are you doing?**_'

Sachiko froze as the familiar monotone voice tickled into her ear, the curtain within her room blocking all vestiges of the early morning light; beckoning her into a state of unconscious bliss as the bed in the center of the room called out to her with a silent plea.

Unfortunately for herself (_or maybe for his sake…_), a certain nightwalker with a death-wish the size of all seven continents put together in one didn't seem to get the _hint_.

'_I think the better question, __**L**__, is what are __**you**__ doing? Or at least, what do you __**think**__ you're doing?_'

Sighing as she kept in her tantrum-waiting-to-happen, Sachiko pulled at her chin-length locks, the leather material of her gloves crinkling at the force as she did so. Quickly tugging the material away from her porcelain-smooth hands, the lithe woman snarled rather violently as the lack of sleep began to toy with her mental facilities.

"You've created a mess, L Lawliet, and right now, you are walking a very, _very_ thin line. _Don't push my damn buttons, __**mister**_." She muttered out loud, projecting the message within her own mind for the double the effect.

'_**Is that so? What have they said so far about the attack?**_'

"Nothing that I haven't been able to contain… though knowing Akio, he'll spin this to his advantage somehow." Sachiko pulled off her coat and vest only to throw them across the room, her bed no longer appearing as inviting or tempting her to fall back into the slumber she had been restricting herself these past couple of months. "We'll both have to be careful at this point… have you spoken to Raito or Soichirou yet?"

'_**Watari has spoken to Soichirou already, and he is currently speaking to Raito. I suspect that after that enlightening conversation, I'll have to put my own two cents in or face your son's frightening wrath…**_'

"Oh, don't you get all sarcastic on me! You should have done all that from the beginning, like I told you to!" Carefully holding the pendant she wore between age-worn hands, the eternally-youthful woman sighed as she felt the last bit of her patience slowly drain away… "I gave you three months to fix this, and now, it doesn't even look like you have that much time. If he doesn't either forge a new connection with you, L, or get his memories back and remake the old one, we are both _fucked_."

'… … _**You do realize that he will hate you, you know. No matter if he has his memories or not, he will hold you in distain. I, at least, hold the advantage of the 'if he doesn't remember' scenario. You, however…**_'

"I know my own situation, damn it. And I accept it readily." Sitting down on the large chair that seemed to shimmer to life in front of her, the dark-haired beauty slumped against the warm, soft fabric cushioning her back. "But besides all that, with the way everything is headed, it seems as if Raito's true wish is going to be granted after all…"

'_**I will not let that happen, Sachiko.**_'

"It's not your choice to make, L. And it was selfish of you to ever try to block him from making his own decision on the matter."

'_**It does not matter whether it was or not. I will not let him be another pawn in neither your or our people's game of chance. I would rather he hate me and live than… than die with the honor you have ingrained in him yourself.**_'

Feeling the last bit of her strength drain away, Sachiko sighed as she vacantly stood up and dropped down onto her bed. The last bit of her consciousness tickled with the presence of her friend, but even that was not enough to keep her awake.

'_Whatever you say, dear, but unlike you, L, I must sleep now. The sun beckons me to do so…_'

'_**But what shall I do about this, Sachiko?**_'

Opening her crimson-red eyes, the youthful-looking woman said nothing more as the pseudo-warmth of the imaginary sunlight (_light she had never seen, except for the __light__ she had been blessed with all those years ago…_) she could only recall in passing images and instances within her dreams and Soichirou's vivid descriptions.

'_Keep him, L. Tell him the truth and try to keep him for as long as you can. It's all you can __**really **__do…_' Feeling the younger man retreat from her mind, Sachiko closed her eyes once more.

'_Isn't it?_'

* * *

"You know what my next question's going to be if you're going to answer me that way." Raito snapped as the older man placed a cup of coffee in front of him, the bright light cascading from the open kitchen windows blazed spectacularly on the boy's golden skin. "What the _hell _are you talking about?"

"Raito, before you lost your memories… let's just say that you had a feeling that such a _circumstance _might occur." At the boy's open-mouthed gape and shocked wide-eyed stare, Watari let out a small sigh as he pulled his glasses off the bridge of his nose and wiped the slightly-smudged lenses with the handkerchief lying just beside his right hand. "Just before you first met L-"

"The very first time, you mean." Raito interrupted, the irritation lingering over his voice as Watari held back his amused grin.

"Yes, the first time, I was introduced to you as your guardian by…"

Feeling himself hesitate, the old librarian almost winced as the boy leaned in a bit further from his seat, mocha-brown eyes now straining with an unnamed emotion quietly displaced within the already-confused glaze staining over his disfigured expression of discontent.

"_By_?"

"By your mother, Raito." Already feeling the volcano beginning to erupt before he could have a chance to process the information, Watari continued on, fixing his glasses back onto his face as he cleared his throat. "You had just turned about 12 at the time that I had met you, and once you hit that age, certain… _people_ felt it was time that you became _educated _about your family ties."

"Family… ties?"

"I don't know how far L wishes to go in your own past, to be quite frank Raito, but I will tell you this-" Leaning forward so that Raito could _see _just how serious he was, Watari lowered his voice as he hoped for both his safety and Raito's that there were no other prying ears except for the one's that were attached to the boy's 'stalker'. "You are both _more_ and _less_ than what you think you are. Human, yet not all what one what define a human to be. Alive, yet still…"

"_Not_." Raito whispered, sitting back with a tremulous quiver of his lips. "My mother… she was different, wasn't she."

It was a statement that Watari himself could not rebuke, just as Raito had come to expect. The sudden boiling anger and drawn-in resentment peaked over the boy's limit as he gave the older man a glare that could rival the coldest of ice and snarl that could only be described as monstrous.

"How long were you going to hide this from me, Watari? When you had no other choice _but _to say something, like when I was finally on my deathbed or lying in an alleyway bleeding my guts out? I _trusted _you when I trusted no one else. And this is how you treat my confidence? By hiding not only who I once was, but what I am _now_?" Pushing himself out of his chair, Raito held back his urge to yell and curse and caught grip of his raging temperament before it could get the better of him. "Oh God… I can't even _look_ at you right now."

"It was not my idea," Watari pleaded with the boy, standing up to catch the boy should he choose to run from his words, "they said it would be for the best, and that you would come out for the better by not knowing about what you had forgotten. I did not agree with it, but if it gave you a chance at a normal life, I could not deny you the opportunity to try to make it _work _Raito! And on top of everything, you yourself made me swear to only reveal all this if, and only if, you were able to gain back some semblance of memory once again!"

"Meaning what? That even _I'm _hiding something? That's… that not even the point, though, Watari." Raito replied succinctly, eyes once again molting over into a deep, blood-stained red. "You honestly don't get it, do you? Everyone else, I could accept. Even my own damn father, who for all that I could care knows _everything_ or _nothing_ about this at all. But _you_? You've seen me in my best and worst, Watari. You were the closest thing to a real parent I actually had, since all my dad did was work or mope over my mother in his room. I hope it makes you happy, knowing you were the status-quo. So, thanks for taking that respect and throwing it right back in my face."

Whipping around the statuesque-librarian looking every bit as horrified as he felt, Raito attempted to quell down his guilt and melancholy by not staring him in the eye and marching back into the room he had woken up in, wishing that he had not opened up his eyes _at all_.

'What a _wonderful _start to such a _crap-tastic _day!'

"And it will only get better and better…" The withdrawn student mumbled through clenched teeth, feeling his hands clench into fisted balls of anger, just waiting for the right moment to simply _snap_.

* * *

"Yes, Raito won't be coming to school today." Soichirou felt his cheek twitch in annoyance as the secretary on the other line became abruptly silent, knowing that his son's track record with school was, for once, going to hinder him instead of help him. "He's feeling a bit ill today, and I feel that it would be much more beneficial for him to stay home today than to contaminate any of the other students or give a less than stellar performance in his classes. You understand, don't you?"

"O-of course, Yagami-san! It's no problem whatsoever!" The secretary seemed honestly stunned, and Soichirou had no doubt that his teachers would be equally as stunted once they heard that their star-pupil would not be attending class that day. Though Raito did not notice it (_blatantly due to his own teen-angst and drama, which Soichirou would gladly admit was all his __**mother's **__in personality_), he was very well-loved by his teachers and fellow students…

They were just too scared of the poor boy to show such genuine affections outright.

'You always do fear what you don't understand…'

His son used to always complain about the stares and strained whispers directed his way, even before he lost his memories and became even _more _estranged with society. It had bothered the lonely parent at first, to watch his only child become alienated within a circle of his own peers, but even _he _had felt the same strange pulse that pulled people both to and away from his son.

'To be one thing, but then be another…" The executive whispered under his breath, rubbing the furrowed drench between his brow and sighing heavily. "How do you live when you're being pulled away in two constant directions all the time within your own mind?'

Perhaps that was why Soichirou had been so happy to find out that Raito did not have his memories. The choice wouldn't need to be made if Raito could not remember what that choice _was_, right?

But it seemed all that was a father's lost hope; a disillusion to accompany him in daily life, and involuntarily shade Raito from a reality that _would not_ dare leave him alone with his own pain and suffering that he could not (_at least now_) understand.

'If there is a God… please _forgive me_.'

Though Soichirou knew that it wasn't _God_ he should've been asking for forgiveness from…

In this instance, God hadn't done a _damn thing_.

* * *

"_YOU!_"

L almost shivered as Raito snarled at him and violently threw the lamp that had lain on the dresser beside his still form at his head, having heard every word between the younger man and his guardian just minutes before. Quickly ducking the flying object before it could even reach his person, the dark-haired near-immortal blinked at the familiar fury within his companion's aura and backed away from the hot-headed male in distress.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT, YOU STUPID BLOODSUCKING BASTARD!"

Closing the opened door behind him with a tight slap and an unadulterated twitch hanging from his eyes, Raito nearly stomped over at the spot on the bed where L now sat and put his hands on his hips, not noticing just how effeminate he actually appeared to be.

"I… apologize?"

"This isn't some sort of _game_of wills, L-" Stamping his foot on the ground, Raito held onto his shrieks and attempted to calm his own ire. "This is my _life_! So stop toying around with me and just tell me the damn TRUTH!"

"You have done nothing but cause me trouble and make me question myself and everything around me ever since I have met you! You refuse to tell me what I need to know and then expect me to open to you with great abandon, acting as if you don't dangle the fact that you seemingly have all the answers over my head every time we even _speak_ to each other! I can't _live _like this, wondering who my enemy is and keeping myself distant from all of my friends. I just _can't _L."

Huffing out of breath, Raito dropped down to the floor, face red from the physical manifestation of such exertion. Not wanting to look up at the pale drawn face no doubt giving him a pitiable look of concern, the teenage student crouched into himself in a creditable imitation of L's own fetal stance and let his head fall into his arms.

"Raito…"

Shaking his head with a stubbornness even Raito could not believe he had, the boy refused to speak.

"I cannot fix this if you do not let me, Raito-kun." Running thin fingers through his disheveled midnight-black hair, the elderly nightwalker gave the boy a desperate stare. "All I wish to do is help you-"

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Raito's muffled yell was heard quite clearly with L's superior hearing, making him wince in pain and discomfort. "You don't want to help me, you only want to help yourself!"

"… … Fine, if you believe that, then it must be true. What can I do to make this better for you, Raito-kun?" L stared down at the boy kneeling before him on his knees, both terrified and confused. "Tell me how to begin to fix this, and perhaps you may be able to… feel better with yourself."

"Just… make it stop. Make it _all _stop-" Raito finally unfurled himself from his awkward position on the floor and looked up at the man with glassy eyes framed by long dark eyelashes coated with speckles of teary water, his face heart-breakingly vulnerable and filled with an anguish that even made _L _sympathetic at the sight. "The dreams, the flashbacks, the pain, the awkwardness-_all of it_. _Please_."

"Raito-kun will only be satisfied until he has the truth," L let his lips thin out as he allowed his hand to trail over Raito's head and gently brushed a few trailing strands of hair away from his forehead. "But the truth may come at a heavy price…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"… … It is like I told you once before, Raito. A connection must be established before one is able to have as much power over one's mind as I did yours at one time. In order to give you back what is rightfully yours, you must give me two things in return."

"You said that before, but you wouldn't tell me what!"

"I feared Raito-kun's reaction at the time, as I sensed the underlying frustration within his usually calm temperament. I thank my instincts immensely for not going through with what I believed to be a disaster-in-the-making, now that I think about it…"

"L!"

"Ah, I apologize, Raito-kun. You are expecting an answer now, yes?"

"No," Raito snarled, looking every bit the un-coiffed teen he should have been. "I'm just sitting on my ass about ready to flip a shit because it's my scheduled time of the day for such a meltdown-OF COURSE I'M EXPECTING AN ANSWER, YOU MORON!"

"No need to yell, Raito-kun, my hearing is quite extraordinary." L cleaned out an ear, as if to fortify this fact. "There are, indeed, two conditions to such a request, and what they require the both of us to do-"

"I thought you meant this was just for me to do?"

"And when did I specify such a condition, Raito?"

Raito gave the man a blank stare, his eyes flashing a stark crimson-red for half a second.

"… … I hate you."

"I love you too, Raito."

"Guh!" Raito just about ripped his hair out, eyes tearing at the effort to reign in his now out of control temperament. "Are you _ever _going to give me a straight answer?"

"Are you ever going to calm down?"

"I would love to, just let me know when you're not being yourself and I'd gladly show some self-control on my part!"

At the scathing scowl now set over Raito's lips, L finally gave out a long-winded sigh and placed his hands over his hips in a familiar form of exasperation. "Fine, Raito-kun, I concede. I shall stop beating around the bush."

"Finally…"

"But you are not going to like what I am going to say in return."

"Fine, whatever."

"Raito-kun, are you _sure_-"

"Just _tell me already_, L! What is it that you're being so damn secretive about!"

"… … In order for me to overturn your memory loss, two connections must be made to substantially reform the same connection we lost. Because we already _had _such a strong connection, it would take double the effort on my own part to reverse that hold I held over you at the time."

"_And_…what _kind _of connections?"

"Of the… well." Even the older man drenched in faux-darkness seemed a bit flustered by the conversation at hand. "Of the physical and emotional kind."

"Physical?" Raito deadpanned.

"Yes."

"Emotional?" Raito's face blanked even further, if possible.

"Mm-hm."

"… What do you mean by physical and emotional connections?"

"… … In our kind, we have certain ceremonies that help placate the intimacy needed to close the gap between us. An… instant re-direction of emotional compatibilities so to speak."

"Ok. We can do that!" Raito raved, not noticing as the older man nearly smacked himself in the face.

"_However_, it would effectively tie you to me."

"I don't follow how this is any different than how we are now, L."

"… … would you rather I put it bluntly, Raito?"

"PLEASE, and THANK YOU-"

"It would be, essentially, a supernatural form of marriage, Raito-kun."

"See? Was that so-" Raito stopped himself mid-sentence, eyes becoming wide like saucers. "Wait, what?"

"Marriage. Does Raito-kun not know what this means?"

"DON'T BE A JACK-ASS, L! I'M NOT AN IDIOT!"

"Alright."

"You have got to be kidding me…"

"No. No, I'm not."

"God, _stop answering me, you moron_!" Raito shouted, glancing at the clock and being thankful that Watari had left a good ten minutes before to do his job, so as to not hear the tumultuous meltdown that was Yagami Raito. "What would make you think that I would even _consider_-I mean, IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! We're both men, for god's sakes"

"With my people it is. For the most part, humans are really behind the times, Raito-kun."

"And what's the _other _thing we've got to do, then?!"

L stayed silent, his eyes becoming impossibly wide as they shimmered a light sky blue.

"L… _what __**is it**_."

"If the idea of marriage does not appeal to Raito-kun in any way, I believe that telling him will be-"

"L, what is it?!"

"I believe alluding to the idea would be far better than actually stating the-"

"_L!_"

"Term which would only serve to upset Raito-kun even further." L finished lamely, eyes dimly glowing an effervescent blue. "Raito…"

"Yes, _L_." The twitch in the boy's eye would have been amusing if L hadn't been so worried about the amount of violence about to be inflicted on his person. Even if he did heal very quickly, that didn't make altercations of the physical kind any less painful to deal with.

And L was not a glutton for pain by _no _stretch of the imagination.

"I only have one question for you."

"Oh, _c'mon_, L, stop beating around the bush and just _come out with it _already-!"

"Raito," The dark-haired vampire whispered, interrupting the boy's tantrum before it could gain any force behind it. Allowing his more tactless side to "Do you feel a certain… _attraction _to me at all? In the primal sense?"

Silence was Raito's reply as wide saucers for eyes almost enveloped the boy's visage.

"Raito? Are you… do you understand what I am trying to say?"

Once again, the room was completely silent except for L's own voice.

"For humans, sex is the fundamental climax for one's attraction to another-"

"_Why _the _hell _are we talking about this?!" Raito finally burst out, face a bright cherry red.

"However, for my kind, sex is... not the only means to such an end."

Wide brown eyes stared at the night-walker, circumventing any sort of comment that Raito may have had once again.

"Another way we seek pleasure, as well as sustenance, is biting and ingesting each other's blood."

"..."

"It's intensely pleasurable, as well as intensely informative." L concluded, that tiny shit-eating smile hanging off of his lips. "Your memories, your thoughts, your subconscious... all of it would be open for me to see."

"Don't you have access to all of that now?!"

"Only under your permission, Raito-kun, and even then, it is incredibly dangerous to delve into someone else's mind in such a manner." L deadpanned. "Haven't you noticed that in order for either of us to read anything on each other, the other must be receptive to this fact? If not, it could prove fatal to one or both of us."

"So..." Raito muttered uncomfortably, all too aware of the other's perusing stare. "All you would need to do... is to bite me?"

L grinned.

"It is a bit more complex than that, but essentially, yes."

The 17-year-old sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. "Why does it sound as if I'm the one getting the shit-end of the stick here?"

"If there was another way," The vampire sincerely spoke, his voice soft and apologetic, "I would implement it. But, Raito, you must understand that the spell you were placed under was meant to be irrevocable, even by my own standards."

"So..."

"Yes, Raito-kun." L cringed as the boy's face morphed into one of righteous rage. "It was not _meant_ to be reversed."

"I just… I can't _believe _this. As if my day can't get any _crappier_. Between being told that my only trustee was lying to me for over three years, you coming up with those two asinine conditions and that I wasn't meant to remember anything, I have to say that this is the suckiest day EVER! You're talking about getting 'married', in your society's terms and… and… basically con-con-consensual biting, and weird voodoo spells! What the hell?! Oh shit, I think I'm gonna black out." Stuttering for breath, Raito nearly pulled his hair out by the roots, chocolate-brown eyes once again glistening a dull carmine-red. "That's it. You're. Out. Of. Your. Mind. You are _out of your __**mind**_, and I am _out of mine _for even considering all this as possible_!_"

"So I've been told on many occasions by many different people. Raito-kun should really calm himself before his hysteria causes him to hyperventilate uncontrollably." L patiently sat where he was, the dark shade of the sheets of the bed underneath his still form emphasizing his incredibly pale skin and now ink-colored eyes. "Why must Raito-kun be so adamant about repeating things that do not bear repeating?"

"Oh, trust me, IT BEARS REPEATING! What do you think my father is going to say if he finds out about all this crap?! 'Oh dad, don't worry, I'm just getting hitched and letting this guy bite me in order to return myself back to what I used to be like! It's no trouble whatsoever!' That doesn't work in the real world L!"

"Raito, please, you'll disturb the residents in the library just next door to us if you continue to keep screeching at such ferocity." Looking slightly dumbfounded by the sudden proclamation, Raito plopped down on the bed beside L and ran a hand through his golden-brown locks.

"I forgot that this place was connected to the library… wait. You said… Watari said…" L waited for the inevitable explosion, picking at his canines with the shell of his thumb as he held a small smile on his lips. "YOU'VE BEEN STALKING ME FOR THREE YEARS, AND JUST _NOW _HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME YOU COULD POSSIBLY BRING MY MEMORIES BACK?!"

"But only under-"

"Your two crazy-ass conditions; I heard you, you ridiculous buffoon!"

"They are not exactly conditions as they are things that would make it possible to override the bond we shared before; as I have already said, Raito-kun." The vampire calmly explained, wondering if Raito could actually burst a blood vessel with all the stress he was piling on himself. Bringing a hand up and smoothing out the other's hair before Raito could begin to try to tear it out strand by strand. "I apologize for the stress you are going through now, but I will not lie in saying that I do not wish you would not take everything to be such a chore..."

Bringing his head up, Raito blinked as those dark eyes became all the lighter; pools of translucent blue shaded by a ring of darkness around the edges of the iris. A sense of tranquility flooded through his senses as he took in a deep breath, fingers lightly trailing down his scalp and across his cheek before brushing against his lips in a familiar fashion...

"I... I've-I've got to go." Stumbling out of the other man's hold, the dazed teen stormed out of the room and ran out of the apartment now lit to the brim with sunshine (_that would definitely come in handy whenever he decided to come during the day, if not at night_).

As Raito sped away from the vampire staring at his retreating figure through the shroud of shadows still available to him, L felt eyes begin to hurt from the blaze of light infecting their now luminous sights.

Sachiko hadn't been kidding when she had pegged him about his suicidal tendencies…

'So adamant about wanting to know more about his past, yet so resistant to hearing the truth he so _desperately _needs to hear…'

But it was no bother to L.

'_You can't hide from this forever, Raito. Especially now that you along with your subconscious is crying out to be released from my own spell…_'

The boy would come back to him on his own accord-

_Eventually._

* * *

Raito tried to catch his breath as the bright glossy sheen of the afternoon sun beamed down on him with a vengeance, casting the street and the wayward boy now wandering them with a rose-colored light.

Tears underlined the boy's hazel eyes as he then halted his steps and stared up at the burning expanse of sky, fingers trembling against his sides.

'Why is everything in my life… suddenly falling apart right in front of my very eyes?'

* * *


	11. To Forgive But Never Forget

A/N: HI EVERYBODY!

HOW ARE YOU TODAY?!

GOOD?!

Me too. ;D Lol. Omg, I just realized that we've hit the halfway point of this story! Isn't that AMAZING?! I know, I didn't think the day would ever come either. XD

Oh, and I would like to thank all the nice reviewers who made me feel tons better after the last chapter. Truthfully, the rant really did help take a lot of bad crap off of my chest, but it's always nice to know that other people both agree and really do wish to read the shit I manage to come up with.

You guys are so _nice_! ^.^

Anyway, OLG. :) Uh, anybody like some plot to add with that side helping of fluffy angst I've been handing out? Lol. Oh, OLG, how you keep me on my toes. Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Title: _**One Last Goodnight**_

Chapter Ten: _To Forgive But Never Forget_

* * *

After sending his father a routine text (_the man must have been worried sick whether Watari had spoken to him or not_) and smiling back at his father's reply (_**You little brat! You're lucky I didn't have a heart-attack when you didn't come home last night! We are going to have a LONG discussion when I get home, mister!**_), the weary brunette gazed at his home in intense relief before running up the familiar pathway and just about slamming his door open with the force of a wild animal.

Raito sighed as he entered his home and glanced about the house, not surprised at the state of disarray surrounding him. His father was not known to be the most organized man in the world, so Raito wasn't the least bit phased to find his home to be as disorderly as a garbage dump after a couple days of absence.

'Well… I guess I have something to do after all.'

Setting down his bag by the door, the young boy mechanically toed off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen, his hands itching for a rag and broom.

'For once, I would just like to fade away…'

Letting his thoughts dissipate against the euphoric nothingness that was now consoling him, Raito began the arduous task of cleaning his home, not noticing as his own thoughts began to slowly stray…

'_Fade away…_'

* * *

'_**Fade away…'**_

L sighed in bliss as the young boy's voice unconsciously filtered into his mind, gently stroking his own arm in mock comfort. The darkness of the room was neither suffocating nor tense, a call of slumber soothingly easing his consciousness into a lull of tranquility that it had not felt since… _before_.

'_Raito… don't…_'

Eyes closing without his consent, L reached out into his mind in one final attempt to call out to the boy who was so intricately woven into his psyche; the boy who had brought him back from the dead not once but _twice_.

'_Don't fade away again._'

Not knowing whether his message had been heard (_or even if it made much sense to the teen at this point in his life_), L let go of the tightly-reigned connection that held him together and let the soft blanket of sleep contain him.

The low hum of affection buzzed within his mind as he drifted off into his dreams, a tiny whisper crawling into his mind even as he succumbed to the weakness of his exhaustion.

'_**I won't.' **_

The beginnings of a grin lay over the vampire's lips as the darkness finally swallowed him whole, a familiar sense of warmth blanketing him.

'_Then neither will I._'

* * *

'_**Then neither will I.' **_

Raito halted in his mopping as he smiled, the voice within his head both comforting and sweet.

Something he _never_thought he would associate with the stoic nightwalker, mind you.

'How is it that I can pinpoint his voice exactly; that his presence is one I can identify with little to no effort whatsoever?'

If Raito was to go by L's explanation, it would be due to their old connection being ripped open after being shut away for nearly three years; a connection that had been hampered with by L himself.

But _why_?

If L had cared as much as he had, why had he made him forget?

It seemed like every single one of his question were being answered except the most important one-

* * *

"_I don't… I don't __**want**__ to do this! It's not right!" _

"_It's the only way!"_

"_But it can't be! You're just taking the coward's way out, L! I'm sure if we just waited this out, we could fight this!"_

"_Raito, I'm sorry… but I can't take that chance. They are coming for you… for _us_, and I will not let them finish this on their own terms!"_

"_No, don't _do _this, please!"_

"_For once in my God forsaken life, I will _not_be the selfish one. Even if it means… never loving you the way I wish, I will do what I have to, to keep you safe. This is your chance, Raito. The one you have always wanted…"_

"_L…" _

"_I will-"_

* * *

Raito gasped as he grabbed his head and dropped the mop, breathing heavily as his body met the floor in a sprawl of limbs and rumpled clothing.

'What…?'

The voices faded back into the void in which they had appeared, the picture never all there. Blurs of green, white and brown swirled together in the moments Raito had heard the familiar voices speaking; the weight of the moment (_memory?_) drowning him with its heady familiarity.

Glancing around the spotless kitchen, Raito slowly picked himself up and limped out of the room, the silence now more of a painful reminder of what he _couldn't _remember than a comfort of what he _did_.

'Sleep… I need to _sleep_.'

Hopefully all he needed was rest.

_Hopefully_.

* * *

The old librarian sighed as he let his head fall into his hands, his elbows leaning against his aging desk.

How to do this with the least amount of conflict, he wondered.

The phone next to him lay unused, it's beige gleam taunting the age-old guardian into reaching for the handle and just getting over himself to do what was _necessary_-

But he couldn't-

He _wouldn't_do that Raito.

That boy was his to protect, even from _L _of all people, and he wouldn't betray his trust in such a way ever again. Even _with _his consent.

Sighing once again (_the sound of his breath falling from his lips was beginning to become a daily occurrence_) as he straightened himself up within his chair, Watari grabbed the phone and gulped.

He could do this without giving his youthful charge away. He _could_.

He wouldn't allow for anymore of this deceit to continue now that Raito was finally gaining back what was truly his; what shouldn't have been taken away from him to begin with. Dialing the number, Watari felt the corners of his lips tilt down almost subconsciously.

'_Damn_.'

* * *

Soichirou sighed as he felt his cell-phone vibrate within his pocket, pulling it out quickly and snapping it open with a rather annoyed look on his face as the number was fully recognized.

'_Great._'

Biting back the retort hanging off of his lips as he pushed the phone to his ear, Soichirou gulped as he managed a moderately polite greeting.

"Hello, Quillsh."

Honestly, his head was already pounding and the man hadn't even _said _anything yet.

'_Why isn't it that I just can't have a good day for once?_'

* * *

Cinnamon-brown eyes stared out the window, the last couple hours nothing but a blur.

He had slept…

Hadn't he?

* * *

_Tracing the insignia branded into the piece of cloth, Raito smiled up at his mother, who was more than satisfied with his response._

"_Good job, Raito! You'll be mastering this spell in no time flat!"_

* * *

Or…

Maybe he hadn't.

* * *

"_I like that one." The little boy grinned as the arm perched around his shoulders squeezed him, dark eyes glowing a translucent blue against the warm lights cascading their lithe figures. _

_L shrugged as he gave the man in front of him the money and handed Raito the cone filled with vanilla ice-cream, delighting in the smile given to him as he did so. _

* * *

Raito held his head within his hands as the lowering sun outside his window _taunted _him with its gleam.

'No…'

* * *

"_Raito, you are to stay home, and that is that! You don't know who's out there or what they even _want_!" _

"_But father, they could be in danger!" _

"_You don't know that!" _

_Raito almost cried as he swirled around, tears clinging to his eyes as he grabbed his best friend's hand. _

"_And neither do you! Tell him, L!"_

* * *

The fabric of his comforter was pushed from his body as the young teen sat up and growled, eyes blazing a fierce reddish-gold.

'I can't take this… anymore…'

* * *

"_You'll always be here, won't you?" _

_Staring down at the small teenager gazing up at him with such sad bright eyes, L knelt down and smiled. _

"_No matter what happens, Raito, I shall always be by your side."_

_Holding back a quivering smile, Raito grabbed the older man and let his head fall to the crook of his neck. _

"_Thank you, L…" _

* * *

"Just STOP!"

And just like that…

It actually _did_.

The voices halted as the images running through his head disappeared in mere milliseconds, making the boy's head spin uncomfortably.

'Why…?'

Yet, what was done was done.

L had mentioned something about his mind re-discovering the memories on its own…

But how?

Raito sighed as he lowered his feet to the floor and let one of his hands fall from his head, reaching over to the night-table beside him.

What was so important that his own mind would rebel against a spell that was apparently so powerful, it had no immediate reversal? It was like he was trying to remind himself of something with the small glimpses he was being granted, but he still didn't _get it_.

If he kept going like this, those torrents of emotions he couldn't exactly explain were going to eat him alive, and he would _never _get the answers he was looking for.

Smooth leather finally met his fingertips as Raito sighed, relief pouring over him like a gasp of cool air hitting his lungs. Lying back down on his bed, Raito pulled the book open and slipped the marker that had rested on his previous space it had inhabited.

The yellowed pages glinted as the dimming light frolicking over the closed window cast shadows over the boy's face, making it a bit more difficult to read; though not impossible. Sharp maroon-colored eyes read over each word lovingly, caressing every stroke as if it were a treasure or a keepsake.

Though…

It was, wasn't it?

'_Mother…_'

* * *

_**My dearest and most beautiful ray of sunshine-**_

_**I feel as if I have lost you, even though you still lay here by my side. **_

_**You, a being so tiny and fragile, hold every part of me that I can never show, yet soon, I fear as if our time will be coming to an end. **_

_**How can I let you go, my love? How?**_

_**I look at both you and your father, and I find myself wishing the rest of the world to Hell; if everyone else must burn for us to be happy, then so be it!**_

_**But…**_

_**I can't think like that. **_

_**That isn't the way I wish for you to be, Raito.**_

_**My Light. **_

_**My most precious creation…**_

_**One day, you shall love, and you will realize just how I feel, but until then, I suppose what I say may seem irrelevant. I hope against the Gods stacked against us that you don't ever truly understand what it is I am trying to say, but if the way a certain someone looks at you is any indication, then I don't have a say in the matter do I?**_

_**My poor dear. Are you lost? Is there someone with you holding your hand? I have so many questions, and yet here you are, still lying next to me. **_

_**I suppose my questions are not for the boy lying next to me, but the man he will someday become. Why think of the future, you may ask? **_

_**But if I do not, then who will?**_

_**I can't help but feel as if we are running out of time…**_

_**But if that's the case, then I will make the most of what little time we have left. **_

_**I won't ever truly leave you, Raito. **_

_**Just think of me…**_

_**And I will come running; I **__**swear**__**.**_

_**Until then, **_

_**Goodnight. **_

* * *

Shaky fingers gripped the paper with an intensity that even Raito couldn't have anticipated, a wet sheen enveloping his corneas.

'_I don't want… I don't want you to be just another memory I can't latch onto, mother._'

Without realizing it, a blockade that had formerly caged him within his mind shattered; though Raito didn't notice. Leaning forward, a sudden thought invaded his psyche, and his fingers moved on their own accord.

Raito chewed his lip as he flipped through the journal filled with beautiful cursive writing until he hit the last page, flipping it over-

* * *

_Staring down at the familiar insignia, Raito smiled, tracing its pattern with well trained fingers-_

* * *

And dropping the notebook with a clatter, now-brown-eyes widening with astonishment and… fear?

'This just keeps getting weirder and weirder…'

Closing his eyes, Raito let his mental exhaustion take over him once again as the refreshing cradle of sleep held him until he lay limp within its grasp and the darkness, for once, was a welcome companion.

* * *

'_**I don't want… I don't want you to be just another memory I can't latch onto, Mother.**__'_

Sachiko almost fell over her own feet as she closed her bedroom door behind her, clutching onto her pendant in panic. A mental wall had crumbled; one that had been forced upon her by someone who had been willing to sacrifice his own life for her son and his former-guard.

'Raito…'

"He did it." Smiling as she picked herself up, Sachiko quickly dusted herself off and sped off to the library. "I _knew_ it. Grandfather… you were right. He _did it_."

Unbeknownst to Sachiko, a small figure danced around the corner they were hiding behind, red locks and green eyes burning with curiosity.

'_What did she mean by that…?_'

Loki shrugged as he trotted behind her, steps quiet as his fox-like ears swiveled cutely over his head.

'_I guess I'm going to find out!_'

* * *

"WELL?!"

Misa sighed obnoxiously as the men behind her scuttled over to her; the graveyard they now inhabited both dreary and just a bit scary.

"Do-Don't you think you should be a bit quiet, Amane-san?" The youngest of the male-crew whispered as he rubbed the back of his neck, a metal stake clutched tightly within his other hand. "We don't know who's out here or what they might do if they find us out here!"

"That's the point!" The blonde growled out, her short lacy skirt flying slightly as she huffed out in annoyance, her corset-like top practically sealed against her skin. "I WANT them to show themselves; how else are we going to kill them if they stay hidden, Matsuda?!"

"Uh…"

"I hate to say this," the man with a large afro pointed at Matsuda with a knife, dark eyes narrowed with distaste "but I agree with this fool. It's not safe to go around yelling out our location, Misa. With their enhanced senses, they'll be able to tell if we're here without having to announce to anyone ELSE who we might not want to have an encounter with."

"Whatever, Aizawa." Misa pouted as she turned to the last man lagging behind all of them, heading up the rear of the rag-tag group of men. "Eh? Et tu, Mogi?"

Mogi sighed, running a hand through his short spiky hair, other hand holding a short crossbow in a semi-tight grip.

"I'm just tired. Can we get this over with so we can get home, already?"

The darkening sky was indeed making them all a bit weary; dusk had passed well over a couple hours ago, and they had yet to find anything out of the ordinary.

"I knew this place was a bust." Aizawa sighed, hitting Matsuda behind the head as he bent over a grave and poked it. "We should just go back to our own to-"

"No." Misa froze in her spot, the small sword she held within her hands shaking slightly from the strength of her grip. "There's something happening here… I just can't figure out what."

"Like that's a surprise…" The afroed-man muttered under his breath, barely flinching at the blue-eyed glare he received for his trouble.

"Something big is going to happen here, and I refuse to let those blood-suckers try to take advantage of it in any way! There's a dormant power ready to be unleashed… and little leaks of it has been bursting through the barriers placed over it; whether as a shield or something _else_." Misa flounced as she huffed out a small sigh, holding back a smirk as she heard the three men scramble to keep up with her suddenly neck-break pace. "So we're staying; AND THAT'S FINAL AI-ZA-WA!"

Mogi shook his head as Matsuda nodded enthusiastically, Aizawa the only one of the bunch sporting a semi-agitated expression over his face as the girl continued to sprint.

"Brat…"

"I HEARD THAT!"

* * *

Loki sighed as the woman in front of him continued to thumb through a large ancient-looking book, not even noticing his presence as he almost tripped over himself (_twice!_) and nearly gave himself away with a sudden sneeze/cough.

He could see why Akio-sama never gave him much more important missions, now that he thought about it…

And speaking of Akio-sama-

An age-old link pulled at him; _smothered _him as he continued to watch the short-haired woman read with vigor. Trying to at _least _get a tiny peak of the title of the book, Loki bit back a curse as the mind-link became _painful_-

Letting go of the space he now held, Loki let himself fall back into darkness and drifted out of the library.

Sachiko lifted her head as she felt the suffocating presence of the kitsune youkai finally dissipate, letting the book fall from her hands as she walked around the table and picked up the _real _reason she had entered the library to begin with.

'How_ juvenile…_'

As if Sachiko couldn't read behind Loki's motives; or rather, _Akio's_ motives.

'You won't stop me that easily, Akio…'

_Not this time._

* * *

"Well?!"

Loki cowered behind his master's cylindrical throne, bright eyes downcast and scared.

"I-I wasn't able t-t-to-"

"You failed me _yet_ _again_, Loki?" Akio felt his lips twitch with trembling rage, holding the brandy bottle with clawed fingers as he poured himself _another _drink. Cracks lined the outside of the pristine bottle, gleams of light reflecting off of his golden eyes glowing with a ferocity that would have scared a normal man out of his wits.

"No, Akio-sama!" Still quivering behind the plush pillows and golden vines that made up his master's space, Loki frantically shook his head. "I was following Sachiko-sama today and found something very interesting-"

"Really?" The aging man deadpanned, his silver hair contrasting greatly with his sparkling eyes.

"Yes! As she left her room today after her daily rest, she crumbled onto the floor without warning and clutched her pendant, saying something about somebody being 'right'!" Loki mindlessly spoke, not noticing the grip his master held over his glass tightening painfully- "She rushed into the library and picked up this laaarrrrrgggeeeee book and began reading it-"

"LOKI, YOU IDIOT!"

Squeaking out in shock, Loki whimpered as the power surge from his master blasted him off of his throne and against the wall before bouncing onto the floor in a heap of painful bruises and, he was sure, newly broken bones.

"That… she's…" The glass shattered within Akio's hands as he let out a ferocious, almost _animalistic_ yowl of fury. "What _possessed _you to _not _inform me of such a change, you fool?!"

"Uh…"

"NEVERMIND!" The window on the furthest side of the room cracked as Akio growled, his face distorting inhumanly. "I… shall have to change my plans, then. Stay here; I need to go speak with some of the others to see how this may affect our plans."

Without another word, Akio spun around and left the now partially-demolished room, leaving a slightly broken servant and pool of alcohol in his wake.

* * *

"You know, my son is actually at home right now." Soichirou deadpanned as he stared at the old man pouring them both a cup of tea, the kitchen protruding familiar warmth. "Do you think we can get this over with so that I can actually go _spend some time _with him?"

"Is it possible to actually have a conversation with you without having to suffer through your insufferable attitude, Yagami-san?" Sitting down directly across from the already-irritated father who was reaching for his tea with forced patience, Watari bit back an angry sigh. "Well?"

"Don't act as if you're so surprised, Quillsh. I've lost just as much as Raito; perhaps even more." Sighing in pure exhaustion, Soichirou put down his cup and gave the man a jaded smirk. "Whereas Raito is now gaining back everything he has lost, I don't have such a luxury. I love my son; I wish for nothing but the best for him, and I know that no matter what I say, if this is what he truly wants, nothing will stop him from achieving what he has to do to set things right.

"But Quillsh, in less than 3 years, I've had my wife ripped away from me, my son practically decimated from the inside out and having to deal with it all with a _smile _for my boy's sake." Taking another sip of tea, Soichirou held in the scathing insults and concentrated on the conversation at hand; there was no reason to take out all his anger on this person who had done nothing but acquiesced to Raito's own wishes, after all. "Anyone in position would be just a bit _frustrated_."

"I apologize, Yagami-san," Watari amended himself before he could insert his foot in his mouth, bright crimson-red eyes appearing just over Soichirou's shoulder as he finished speaking "but I only hold Raito's best interests at heart unlike many others who may come to you saying the same."

"I know, Quillsh. _Believe me_… this isn't personal. I know you would give your life for my son…" Soichirou reached for the cup once again, not even stalling as he rolled his eyes. "Isn't that right, Sachiko?"

"How do you _do _that?" Sachiko popped out from her hiding place, a nostalgic smile tilting up the edges of her lips. "Are you sure you don't have magical powers, Soichirou? With the way you always sniff me out…"

"If you call having something I like to call 'Sachiko-Senses' magical, then sure, I've got plenty of magical powers." Letting the cup fall onto the table with a loud clank, Soichirou ignored the leather-clad woman as she sat down beside them. "Well? What is it?"

"What?" Sachiko asked, startled.

"You both have obviously called me here to _torment _me, so let's get this over with so I can get back to my _son _already." Ignoring the wince the short-haired woman sent in his direction, Soichirou gave the white-haired man a stale glare. "So…?"

"Not quite…" Watari muttered under his breath, giving Sachiko a questioning glance under furrowed brows. "What _are _you doing here, Sachiko?"

Biting her lip as the tension within the room became a tad too much for her to stand, Sachiko pulled out a-

Dagger?

The hilt was golden encrusted in exotic jewels and vines of jade as the blade seemed to shine; a glassy substance made up the blade, the gossamer light emitting from it nearly blinding both men staring at it.

"Is that…?"

"He broke it, Watari." Staring at the older man with a mixture of pride and angst, the darkly-dressed mother nearly sobbed as her husband grabbed her hand instinctually. "He broke the barrier that lay between us; between our _kind_. It will only be a matter of time before they feel his presence within the counsel and he _needs _to protect himself."

"So he _is _the chosen one your father spoke of…"

"Yes. And if we don't do what we can to protect him, then my father's sacrifice along with all of our own personal… _tribulations_" Sachiko tried to keep her eyes off of Soichirou as she said this, his hand tightening over her own "will have been in vain."

"Raito was right then; from the _beginning_." Soichirou whispered, the veiled regret pouring over his gaze in rivulets. "If that's the case then… he needs his memories back; _now_."

"I believe L is taking care of that-"

"Is that so?" Both Sachiko and Soichirou echoed, giving Watari equally shared looks of disbelief and skepticism.

"_Yes_, he _is_." Pointing at the stairs, the elderly-looking man placed a finger over his lips in a way to quiet his visitors. "Though I do believe he may have angered young Raito this… morning…"

From the look on the despairing father's face, he could have guessed he knew that already.

"The war brewing between both of our worlds is growing by the second, and if we don't do something, then we'll be aiding in the destruction of millions, possibly _billions _of people." Sachiko whispered. "If L and Raito don't come together soon and release his memories, then we'll have lost before we even have a chance to fight."

Knowing the woman was right, Soichirou closed his eyes as he released his wife's hand and let his head fall forward.

"This time, I won't let them win so easily." Standing up from the table, Soichirou nodded at Watari and gave his wife a tender glance, wishing to give her something more (_though they both knew that such an expression of affection would cost them dearly…_) but holding back at the last second. "Sachiko, are you keeping a thorough watch on the counsel?"

The woman nodded, feeling the same pangs of loss as her husband, yet hiding it extremely well.

"Good. Inform us of any changes; Watari, I trust you'll deal with L, then?" Watching the older man in weary acceptance, Soichirou smiled. "I know; sucks, doesn't it?"

"Like working with a pubescent teenager that knows infinitely more than you in all ways but the ones that count." Watari mumbled, twitching as the two other people within the room laughed. "But I can deal with it. You just keep Raito stable until then, Soichirou, and I'll make sure that L doesn't pull another one of his in the next few days, alright?"

"Agreed," the business man waved at them over his shoulder and strode his, his gait so much like the boy they were trying to save.

"It's like all of it never even happened, isn't it?" Watari whispered as soon as the older man was out of the vicinity, feeling a bit desolate as Sachiko then lowered her head.

"Do you think…?"

"Just give it time, Sachiko." Grabbing the now-empty cups, Watari winked. "_Just_ _give it time_."

* * *

Raito sighed as sat down in his seat, the rest of the class ignoring him as usual. After nearly three days of this constant isolation, he had become used to it.

'What the hell is going on…?"

Usually his classmates were cold, but this was becoming altogether ridiculous. No one would even _look _at him, damn it!

But he couldn't go back home; after having to suffer through a rather long-winded lecture on his father's behalf, he had been given the choice of staying home until he was feeling a bit… _better_, or going to school. It was one Hell or another, and Raito would much rather the familiar sneer of his classmates than the painful silence of his home's walls and haunting thoughts that still clouded his senses.

On top of that, it had been nearly four days since he had last seen L, and it was driving him up a _wall_.

He couldn't bring himself to go the library, choosing to cocoon himself in some of the empty classrooms afterschool until it was time to 'get the hell out' as the janitors had so politely put it and for some strange reason the high school student couldn't fathom the nightwalker seemed opposed to going to his house and facing him head on.

All in all, the whole situation was driving Raito _crazy_.

But still, his need for answers didn't outweigh his need for _space_, and at the moment, Raito needed plenty _of it_.

"Good morning class!" The teacher suddenly announced as he entered the room, dark eyes scouring and agitated from the early morning hour.

The students rushed back to their desks and continued standing, staring at the teacher before bowing. "Good morning, sensei!"

Nodding slightly, the teacher smiled as the students practically fell into their seats and pulled out their books. "Before I begin our next lesson, I have an announcement to make."

Raito glanced up from the book he was reading, the words barely catching his attention. His fingers began to pick at the edges of the pages curled around their tips, a niggling of _something _picking at the back of his head; _enticing _him with a promise of-

(_Power-want-need-this-need-it-now-don't-forsake-us-fight-for-this-_**need**)

"We have a new student coming into class-"

(_Power-want-need-this-need-it-now-don't-forsake-us-fight-for-this-_**need**)

"So please make sure to help her feel as welcome as possible-"

(_Power-want-need-this-need-it-now-don't-forsake-us-fight-for-this-_**need**)

Raito felt his mind split in two as the spark of _something _became _everything_ and all he could feel and hear and touch was this overwhelming sensation of _being here_ instead of… of… _where_?

Where else would Raito need to be?

"Everyone, please welcome Amane Misa to our class."

A tiny blonde-haired girl with pigtails and a smooth grin entered the class and bowed, giggling as various boys (_and some of the girls as well_) gave her appraising looks of awe.

Raito, though, was not one of those boys.

(_Don't listen to her, she doesn't know anything; fight it fight it fight it – don't let it CONSUME you_)

Letting his head drop forward, Raito concentrated on this new voice; the soothing quality of its dulcet tone both loving and protective.

'I won't… I _won't._'

Sharp blue eyes twisted over and kept their gaze on the boy sitting in the back corner of class, his amber-red eyes glowing without his noticing.

Misa smiled sweetly as her teacher assigned the mischievous blonde her seat, her silver cross hanging heavily over her neck underneath her school uniform.

'_Gotcha._'


	12. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE BIATCHES!**

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION YET?

Goodie. ^.^

Now, there has been some very stringent nastiness going around FFdotnet this past year and it has been, luckily enough, tossed my way before any damage could be done to me. I've spoken about this in plenty of author's notes but I suppose this is the real deal.

I have created a livejournal account (OMG MY SWORN NEMESIS NOOOESSSS!) and have decided to discontinue my FFdotnet account. All of my work will be transferred to my livejournal and future updates shall be continued there once I am settled in and everything has been moved. I will not delete my account but I will also not re-make it should it be deleted by personnel within the website and douches working with them.

Various readers have been reporting stories and authors due to what they feel is 'disturbing' or 'overly mature' content that should not be shared on FFdotnet. I have done my own part to try to stifle down the onslaught of assholes making it harder for the rest of us fanfic writers but I also am not going to let someone demolish my work simply because they do not like it. It's not what I stand for and I am not someone who takes such things lying down peacefully. Please, if you know of such people contact other writers, contact FFdotnet workers via the links provided overhead and don't let such people censor whatever it is they want to based on their own personal opinion and no one else's. Discrimination should never be tolerated, especially when it comes to the basis of stories which don't have to be read if the reader feels they do not want to, whether the content be 'disturbing' or not. :-P

The link to my livejournal is on my profile page. If anything is to happen to said profile page just type 'hari_aisu' in the livejournal search; you'll find me if you look for me. :)

Once again, I thank you guys for all the support you've given me on this site. If you wish to contact me you can still PM me; I will still answer any and all review/messages/emails and my aim is still the same. I hope all of my readers continue to follow me, whether you have a livejournal or not.

So in classic Hari-Aisu flourish-

THANKS YOU GUYS. YOU KNOW MAMA LOVES YOU LOOOOOOOONG TIIIIMMMMEEEEE! XD


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